"I have been covering the Balochistan insurgency for years, but I can't recall such a massive hijacking ever taking place in the region or anywhere else in Pakistan for that matter."Shahzeb Jillani, Pakistani journalist
It's been over 24 hours since Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) militants hijacked a Jaffar Express train near the Mashkaf Tunnel in Balochistan’s Bolan district.
In what's being cited as the latest surge of tensions amid the 20-year-long insurgency, the hijacked train, which was travelling from Quetta to Peshawar, is believed to have 450 passengers on board, including several security personnel. It was stopped in its tracks after BLA militants allegedly blew up explosives laden on the train tracks and then opened fire on the bogeys.
While the Pakistan government has announced a "full-scale" counter operation to rescue the hostages, the BLA said in a statement late last night that any aggression from the government will be met by the periodical execution of 10 hostages at a time.
'BLA Fighters Using Hostages as Human Shields'
The Pakistani Army's efforts in getting hostages rescued were stalled as BLA fighters were allegedly using them as human shields. Furthermore, the army's offensives have been hampered by the remoteness and difficult terrain of the area where the train has been stalled.
"The BLA has been trying to pull off an attack like this for a while — to get people as hostages," Pakistan-based journalist Kunwar Khuldune Shahid said while speaking to The Quint.
On a number of occasions in the past, the BLA has attempted to blow up trains travelling along the same route as Jaffar.
In 2018, a train bound for Pakistan's Punjab province was targeted by militants who triggered remote-control explosives as the train was approaching. However, nobody was injured in the incident. Another incident took place in January this year, when at least a dozen passengers sustained injuries after twin bomb blasts rocked a passenger train in Balochistan's Bolan district.
While several such attacks have occurred in the past, this is the first time that militants were able to halt the train in its tracks.
"Close to 95 percent of attacks in Pakistan take place in two provinces: Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The Jaffar Express connects these two provinces itself," Shahid said.
Lack of Clarity About Number of Casualties
Meanwhile, given the remoteness of the location and lack of access for the general public, the number of casualties – including militants, security personnel, and hostages – is still unclear.
The Pakistan Army claimed earlier on Wednesday, 12 March, that they had killed 27 militants so far during a fierce gunfight. Further, local media reports stated that 20 Pakistan Army soldiers had been slain.
However, a statement released by the BLA at around 1:00 am on Wednesday denies claims of any of its fighters having been killed.
"It is clarified that not a single BLA freedom fighter has been martyred or injured so far. The lies and misleading claims spread by the enemy are a complete deviation from the facts and a failed attempt to hide their defeat," the statement reads.
The outfit further claimed that it had executed 10 hostages so far, and will kill 10 more if there is further military action from the Pakistan Army.
"In response to today’s cowardly and senseless bombing 10 more hostages will be eliminated. BLA warns the enemy that if the Pakistani army commits any further aggression, even if a single bullet is fired, 10 more personnel will be eliminated."BLA statement
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Army claimed that 155 hostages had been "rescued" from the Jaffar Express and were currently undergoing treatment in a Quetta hospital.
However, there is still speculation about whether women and children were rescued by the army or were let go by the militants themselves.
"Several eyewitnesses recounted that when the train stopped, militants came into the bogeys and asked women and children to leave. While security forces are saying that they rescued them, I would go by the eyewitness statements," said Pakistan-based veteran journalist Shahzeb Jillani while speaking to The Quint.
Jillani further added that according to his sources, around 200 Pakistan Army personnel are believed to be on board the train who were going to their hometowns for Eid holidays.
Meanwhile, the BLA also slammed the army's claims of rescuing passengers, calling it "false propaganda".
"The propaganda machinery of the enemy state is busy fabricating the lie that the Pakistani Army rescued the hostages, while the fact is that BLA itself, under the principles of war, morality and revolution, released all the women, children, sick and Baloch civilians," they said.
According to local media reports, women, children, and elderly passengers had to walk for around three hours across rough mountainous terrain to reach the nearest railway station, from where a cargo train transported them to Machh, around 50 kilometres from Quetta.
Meanwhile, the BLA claims to have intimated their demands to the Pakistan government. While it is yet unclear what those demands are, the militant outfit has set a deadline of 48 hours for the acceptance of their demands. If the government fails to do so, the BLA vowed to execute more hostages.
"If our demands are not met within this time and the state's stubbornness continues, then five hostages will be eliminated for every passing hour after the ultimatum ends," the BLA said in their 1:00 am statement.
Why Balochistan Has Been a Hotbed of Tensions for Years
The Jaffar Express hijacking is the latest escalation in the 20-year-long insurgency in Balochistan. This comes just months after at least 70 people, including security personnel and migrant labourers, were killed in a series of attacks by the BLA on 26 August 2024.
Balochistan has been a hotbed of tensions for years, and the recent surge of violence has itself been ongoing for the last two decades.
The reasons behind the insurgency are many.
Balochistan is a province that contains one of the world's richest reserves of minerals and natural resources which the Pakistan government has been accused of exploiting without giving back economically to locals. This has led to the impoverishment of the region and its sub-standard performance in varied developmental indicators as compared to more developed provinces like Punjab and Sindh.
While Balochistan hosts the strategic Gwadar Port – the lifeline of Pakistan's oil trade – as well as major infrastructural projects of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the benefits of the projects have not trickled down to ordinary citizens. On the contrary, locals allege that their jobs have been taken away by migrants from Punjab and other provinces – which is one of the major bones of contention for separatist groups.
Further, in a bid to quell the separatist sentiments widespread in the region, Pakistani security forces have often been accused by locals and rights bodies of using excessive force even against peaceful protesters.
One of the most grievous segments of Pakistan's counter-insurgency measures has been alleged enforced disappearances – implying that the whereabouts of several people detained by the government are in the dark. This has often led to allegations of custodial killings and fake encounters. According to the Voice of Baloch Missing Persons, there have been more than 7,000 such disappearances between 2002 and 2024.
Also, while the conflict in Balochistan is multi-faceted, with many parties vying for control over the region, the geographical location of the province is itself a detriment to peace in the region.
The westernmost province of Pakistan and the largest by landmass, Balochistan neighbours two extremely volatile countries: Afghanistan and Iran.
Further, instead of acknowledging its own shortcomings responsible for the upheaval in Balochistan, Pakistan has over the years alleged India's hand in fomenting separatist sentiments in the province – despite the fact that Balochistan is not even contiguous to the Indian mainland.
Pakistan's arguments against India became even more aggressive after an Indian national named Kulbhushan Jadhav was arrested in March 2016 in Balochistan's Chaman area. While Pakistan alleged that Jadhav is an Indian naval officer deputed in Balochistan by India's Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), New Delhi has consistently maintained that there is no truth to the allegations and that Jadhav was kidnapped by Pakistani security forces from Iran.
Meanwhile, those who have been following the Baloch insurgency for years say that the train hijacking is unprecedented and perhaps one of the deadliest points of escalation in the long-standing conflict.
"There's been a lot of terrorist activity in Balochistan for many years, but this time it's different. The latest wave of the insurgency has continued for 20 years. It has become more lethal, more deadly, and more sophisticated."Shahzeb Jillani