Pakistan security forces launched a "full-scale" operation on Wednesday, March 12, exchanging gunfire with hundreds of separatist militants as they sought to free about 300 train passengers taken hostage in the mountainous southwest, officials said.
Security forces were being cautious as officials said the hostages were surrounded by militants wearing vests loaded with explosives. Government spokesman Shahid Rind said Pakistani, who were being backed up by helicopters in the remote region, were being cautious because of the situation. He described the attack "an act of terrorism."
At least 27 militants have been killed and security forces rescued more than 150 of the 450 people who were on the train when it was hijacked on Tuesday as it entered a tunnel in Bolan, a district in restive Balochistan province.
According to the officials, the train was partially inside the tunnel when the militants blew up the tracks and immobilized the engine and its nine coaches. The driver was critically wounded by gunfire and guards aboard the train were attack, although the officials gave no details about the number of guards that were aboard or if they had been killed. The driver of the train, a police officer and a soldier were killed in the assault, according to paramedic Nazim Farooq and railway official Muhammad Aslam.
Muhammad Kashif, a senior railway government official in provincial capital Quetta, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that "over 450 passengers onboard" had been taken hostage.
Hostages freed on Tuesday described walking for hours through mountainous terrain to reach safety. Rescued passengers were being sent to their home towns and injured are being treated at hospitals at Mach district in Balochistan. Others were taken to Quetta about 100 kilometers (62 miles) away.
Security forces have been battling a decades-long insurgency in impoverished Balochistan, but violence has soared in the western border regions with Afghanistan, from north to south, since the Taliban took back power in 2021.
Responsibility for the assault was immediately claimed by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), a separatist group behind rising violence in the province which borders Afghanistan and Iran. The BLA said it was open to negotiations to swap prisoners. So far, there has been no response or any indication from the government to the offer from the insurgents.
The BLA claim the region's natural resources are being exploited by outsiders and have increased attacks targeting Pakistanis from other regions.
The BLA regularly targets Pakistani security forces, but has also in the past attacked civilians, including Chinese nationals working on multibillion-dollar projects related to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, or CPEC.
Pakistan hosts thousands of Chinese workers as part of Beijing’s multibillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative , which is building major infrastructure projects.