A passenger train came under attack by separatist militants in Pakistan’s Balochistan province on Tuesday, injuring a train driver, according to police and railway officials. The train, Jaffar Express was bound for Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from Quetta in Balochistan province, the railway officials said.
The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), a militant separatist group, claimed responsibility for the attack saying they had taken hostages from the train, including security forces. However, officials from the provincial government or railways did not confirm on hostages being taken, reported Reuters.
“There are reports of intense firing at a Jaffar Express [train], which was heading from Quetta to Peshawar, between Peerokanri and Gadalar,” a spokesperson for the Balochistan government, Shahid Rind said in a statement, reported Dawn.
Noting that the firing could be a terrorist incident Rind said that investigations were underway. Railway officials said that security forces have reached the site of the incident, in the Mushqaf area of the Bolan district on Balochistan.
The train, carrying 500 passengers was stopped by armed men in Tunnel No 8, said Controller Railways Muhammad Kashif. “Efforts are being made to contact the passengers and staff,” the controller said.
Emergency Measures
The provincial government has directed local authorities to take “emergency measures”. As per the government’s statement, an emergency has also been imposed at the Sibi hospital, while ambulances and security forces were on their way to the site of the incident.
The rocky terrain has, however, posed difficulties in reaching the site, Rind said.
The government further said that the railway department has sent more trains to the site to provide rescue.
“The scale of the incident and the possibility of terrorist elements are being determined. The Balochistan government has ordered that emergency measures be taken, and all institutions remain active,” the statement read.
An emergency has also been declared at the Civil Hospital Quetta, Health Department Spokesperson Dr Waseem Baig said, according to Dawn. “All consultants, doctors, pharmacists, staff nurses and paramedical staff have been summoned to the hospital,” Baig said.
Insurgency In Balochistan
The attack comes just a month after train services resumed between Quetta and Peshawar in October last year after a suspension of more than a month and a half.
Balochistan has been a hotbed of a decades-long insurgency by separatist militant groups leading to frequent attacks against the government, army and Chinese interests in the region. They also press for demands for a share in mineral-rich resources.
The Baloch Liberation Army — the biggest of several ethnic insurgent groups — seeks secession for Balochistan as it accuses the Pakistan government of unfairly exploiting Balochistan’s rich gas and mineral resources.
