At least 13 terrorists killed, several passengers martyred Security personnel successfully rescue 80 hostages President, PM condemn terrorist attack on Jaffar Express Shehbaz Sharif says security forces will soon succeed in their operation.
QUETTA/ISLAMABAD - Security forces on Tuesday killed thirteen terrorists and injured many others after they attacked Jaffar Ex-press train in Dhadar area of Bolan Pass in Balochistan. The BLA terrorists held passengers hostage.
According to security sources, terrorists split into small groups due to security forces’ operation. Injured passengers were shifted to nearby hospital while additional security squads are taking part in the operation in the area.
Earlier, the security forces rescued eighty hostages held by terrorists including 43 men, 26 women and 11 children. The security forces vowed to continue operation till the last terrorist is eliminated.
Reportedly, the terrorists martyred at least 10 people after hijacking the train carrying hundreds of passen-gers in the province of Balochistan on Tuesday, according to government and railway officials.
Nine of those martyred were security personnel, Imran Hayat, a senior railway official, told CNN Tuesday night, adding that the train driver was also martyred in the attack. President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif have strongly condemned the cowardly terrorist attack on the Jaffar Express in Dhadar area of Bolan Pass.
In their separate statements, they lauded the security forces for their bravery and professionalism demon-strated in the operation.
The president said attacks on unarmed civilians and passengers are inhumane and those involved in this attack are against Balochistan and its traditions.
He said the Baloch nation rejects those who attack and hold hostage, the unarmed passengers, elderly and children. The president said no religion or society allows such wicked act.
The prime minister while highlighting the professionalism of security forces, said despite the difficult routes, the morale of officers and personnel involved in the operation is high. He said the security forces are taking timely and prompt action and will soon succeed in their operation. Shehbaz Sharif said the beastly terrorists who carry out such attacks do not deserve any mercy, they are enemies of Balochistan’s development.
He said terrorists’ targeting of innocent passengers in the Holy month of Ramzan testifies that they have no connection either with the religion Islam or with Pakistan and Balochistan.
The prime minister reaffirmed the unflinching national resolve to continue the war against terrorism till com-plete eradication of this menace.
He vowed that the entire nation stands by its security forces in this war and will thwart every conspiracy to create chaos in the country. He said we will never let evil designs of anti-state elements, succeed.
It was unclear when the deaths occurred. Earlier Tuesday, Balochistan government spokesperson Shahid Rind told reporters that “intense gunfire” had been reported on the train. Tuesday evening, a security source told CNN that security forces had “surrounded the terrorists” and an exchange of fire had taken place. The security source added that the militants were using “women and children and shields.”
The train, known as the Jaffer Express, was stopped by the militants as it reached a tunnel on Tuesday afternoon, officials said. The train was on its way from Quetta in Balochistan, country’s westernmost prov-ince, to the northwestern city of Peshawar.
“Armed individuals stopped Jaffer Express inside Tunnel No. 8 (in Bolan),” Muhammad Kashif, Quetta Railways’ controller, told CNN. The train, which departed from Quetta at 9 a.m. local time, had nine coach-es and was carrying approximately 450 passengers, Kashif said.
The terrorist group Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for the attack.
The BLA said in a statement that they had taken hostages from the train. Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Sarfraz Bugti said in a statement Tuesday evening that efforts to pursue the attackers are ongoing, adding that operations will continue “until the last terrorist is eliminated.”
Balochistan government spokesperson Shahid Rind said that access to the train, which was being held in Balochistan’s mountainous region of Sibi, he said, was “challenging.”
Junaid Ahmed, from Quetta, told reporters that his cousins were traveling on the Jaffer Express at the time of the incident. “When I found out about the train incident, I lost contact with them. I came here (Quetta Railway Station), but officials here are saying that (they) are unable to make any contact too.”
The Balochistan government had directed emergency response efforts, Rind said, with a relief train sent to the scene. On Friday, in a letter seen by CNN, Balochistan’s Counter-Terrorism Department had issued a threat alert, regarding “a planned attack” by the BLA and asked “all concerned authorities” to “take extraor-dinary precautions and safety measures to prevent any occurrence.”