Pakistan train hijack: Baloch rebels claim they killed all captive Pakistani soldiers

New Delhi: The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), a separatist militant group, on Wednesday claimed to have killed all captive Pakistani soldiers after seizing control of a train in Balochistan.

BLA, designated as a terrorist organisation by Pakistan, the United States, and the United Kingdom, has claimed responsibility for the execution of Pakistani soldiers.

The announcement was made in a statement shared on social media platform X by user @bahot_baluch.

According to the BLA’s statement, the executions took place following the Pakistani government’s rejection of a prisoner exchange proposal and the initiation of large-scale military operations in the region. 

The BLA stated that the executions were a direct response to Pakistan’s refusal to negotiate and its continuation of military aggression.

However, Army spokesman Lt Gen Ahmad Sharif claimed that twenty-one passengers and four paramilitary soldiers were killed, and told Dunya News TV that security forces killed all 33 militants present at the scene.

"The armed forces successfully concluded the operation in the (Wednesday) evening by killing all terrorists and rescuing all passengers safely,” Lt Gen Sharif said.

He said that 21 passengers were killed by the terrorists when they attacked the train on Tuesday. He added that four paramilitary Frontier Corps soldiers were also killed in the incident.

"The forces killed all 33 terrorists and secured the release of hostages,” he said.

The Jaffar Express, carrying some 400 passengers in nine coaches, was going from Quetta to Peshawar when militants derailed it using explosives and hijacked it near the mountainous terrain of Gudalar and Piru Kunri in a tunnel 160 kilometres from Quetta.

The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for the attack on Tuesday when they said they killed six soldiers.

Despite bieng a resource-rich province, Balochistan has been a focal point of separatist unrest since 2000.