A bloody train hijack has come to an end after insurgents slaughtered 50 hostages and the Pakistan military killed all attackers after a day-long standoff, according to security officials.
Pakistan militants said on Wednesday they had killed 50 hostages after hijacking the train that was carrying more than 400 passengers. These figures are yet to be verified and officials have provided no information about those killed.
‘Today, the enemy forces attempted an armed advance using heavy artillery and sophisticated weaponry, leading to intense clashes,’ the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) said in a statement.
‘In direct retaliation to Pakistan’s persistent aggression… the BLA has executed 50 additional captive enemy personnel within the past hour.’
It comes after the BLA earlier issued a chilling warning threatening to execute hostages within the hour if Pakistani security forces attempted a full-scale rescue mission.
The militant group also said it was seeking the release of Baloch political prisoners, activists and others within 48 hours, threatening to slaughter hostages if the government did not comply.
The Jaffar Express, carrying around 425 passengers from Quetta to Peshawar, was ambushed on Tuesday by heavily armed militants from the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), who took a number of passengers hostage.
Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif condemned the incident on X, saying: ‘Dozens of the terrorists have been sent to hell.’
Passengers traveling on the train hijacked by militants are assisted after fleeing the incident
Rescue workers from the Edhi organization are preparing to participate in a rescue operation as they await boarding a special train following a militant attack on the Peshawar-bound Jaffar Express in Mach, a volatile area of Balochistan province, Pakistan, on 12 March 2025
Freed women and children train passengers gather at the Mach railway station after Pakistani security forces freed nearly 80 passengers following a security operation against armed militants who ambushed the train in the remote mountainous area, in Mach, southwestern Balochistan province on March 11, 2025
Footage released by the BLA on Wednesday morning shows the vehicle erupting in a cloud of smoke
The train came to a grinding halt and dozens of fighters were seen taking passengers hostage
A train carrying empty coffins to the siege site, stands at a railway station in Quetta on March 12, 2025
Pakistan’s military had launched a rescue operation to confront the attackers who used ‘women and children as shields,’ according to security sources
Special forces and helicopters were deployed to the remote region to free the remaining hostages, and officials have now said that over 300 hostages have been rescued.
In a chilling statement, Jeeyand Baloch, a spokesperson for the BLA earlier said: ‘The BLA issues a final warning: if the aerial bombardment is not halted immediately, all 100+ hostages will be executed within the next hour.
‘Majeed Brigade, STOS, Fateh Squad, and ZIRAB Unit fighters are actively engaged in countermeasures, and any further military incursion will have catastrophic consequences.
‘Over 100 enemy personnel remain in BLA custody. The occupying forces still have a chance to cease airstrikes and save their men, or else the Pakistani military will bear full responsibility for the execution of all hostages’.
On Wednesday, dozens of empty wooden coffins were seen being loaded at Quetta railway station.
A railway official confirmed they were being transported to collect any potential casualties.
Passengers freed from the hijacked train have since described the terrifying ordeal as ‘scenes of doomsday’ as suicide bombers held women and children hostage and threatened to blow them up.
Ishaq Noor, one of Tuesday’s survivors, recalled the sheer terror as militants stormed the train.
‘We held our breath throughout the firing, not knowing what would happen next,’ he told the BBC.
The terrified passenger was travelling with his wife and two children when a powerful explosion rocked the train.
He described the situation as ‘so intense’ and said that during the blast, one of his children fell from their seat. He and his wife became human shields for their children and were prepared to take a bullet to keep them alive.
The train was travelling from Quetta to the northern city of Peshawar when it was attacked on Tuesday.
Rescue workers from the Edhi organization are preparing to participate in a rescue operation as they await boarding a special train following a militant attack on the Peshawar-bound Jaffar Express
A paramilitary soldier takes position at a railway station near the attack site of a passenger train by insurgents
Passengers rescued from the Peshawar bound Jaffar express train that was attacked by suspected militants in Sibi, reach the railway station in Quetta, the provincial capital of restive Balochistan province, Pakistan, 12 March 2025
An injured passenger rescued by security forces from a passenger train attacked by insurgents arrives at a railway station in Much near Quetta
Passengers rescued from the Peshawar bound Jaffar express train that was attacked by suspected militants in Sibi, reach the railway station in Quetta
A paramilitary soldier takes position at a railway station near the attack site of a passenger train by insurgents
The train was left trapped inside a tunnel after the assault, during which it came under fire and the driver was wounded, police and railway officials said yesterday.
Militants reportedly blew up the railway track before opening fire on security personnel on board, according to government spokesman Shahid Rind.
Footage released by the BLA on Wednesday morning captured the moment of the attack and seizure, showing the train making its way down the track before erupting in a cloud of black smoke.
BLA fighters are also supposedly seen gathered on a distant hill before the vehicle grinds to a halt.
Another survivor, Muhammad Ashraf, who was travelling to Lahore to visit family, said the fear among passengers was overwhelming.
‘There was a lot of fear among the passengers. It was a scene of doomsday,’ he said.
Ashraf managed to escape with a group of passengers late on Tuesday.
They walked for nearly four hours to the nearest railway station, with some carrying exhausted and injured fellow travellers on their shoulders.
Mushtaq Muhammad, who was in the train’s third carriage, described the attackers as highly organised and speaking to each other in Balochi.
‘Their leader repeatedly told them to ‘keep an eye’ on the security personnel to make sure they didn’t lose them,’ he said.
Muhammad told the news site that the attackers started releasing some passengers on Tuesday evening, including women, children, the elderly, and some Balochistan residents.
Noor said he was freed after telling the militants he was from Turbat and showing that he had children with him.
A Pakistani military helicopter hovers over a railway station in the Sibi district of southwestern Balochistan province on March 12, 2025
Rescue workers from the Edhi organization are preparing to participate in a rescue operation as they await boarding a special train following a militant attack on the Peshawar-bound Jaffar Express in Mach
A soldier works to evacuate freed train passengers at the Mach railway station, which has been turned into a makeshift hospital
Paramilitary soldiers stand guard at a railway station in the Sibi district of southwestern Balochistan province on March 12, 2025
A passenger, who was rescued from a train after it was attacked by separatist militants, receives medical aid at the Mach Railway Station in Mach, Balochistan, Pakistan, March 11, 2025
In the wake of Tuesday’s attack, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif vowed to ‘continue to fight against the monster of terrorism until it is completely eradicated from the country.’
In a statement, he said the ‘terrorists’ targeting of innocent passengers during the peaceful and blessed month of Ramadan is a clear reflection that these terrorists have no connection with the religion of Islam, Pakistan and Balochistan.’
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning on Wednesday also told reporters that China strongly condemns the terrorist attacks and will continue to firmly support Pakistan in combating terrorism.
‘China stands ready to strengthen counterterrorism and security cooperation with Pakistan and jointly keep the region peaceful, secure and stable,’ she said.
A decades-old insurgency in Balochistan by separatist militant groups has led to frequent attacks against the government, army and Chinese interests in the region, pressing demands for a share in its resources.
The oil- and mineral-rich Balochistan is Pakistan’s largest but also least populated province.
It is a hub for the country’s ethnic Baloch minority whose members say they face discrimination and exploitation by the central government.
The BLA seeks independence for Balochistan. It is the biggest of several ethnic insurgent groups that have battled the South Asian nation’s government for decades, saying it unfairly exploits Balochistan’s rich gas and mineral resources.
