Islamabad, Pakistan – Pakistan’s security forces announced on Wednesday night that they had ended a military operation against a group of separatists who had hijacked a train on Tuesday, rescuing 346 passengers.
Jaffar Express, the train was travelling from Quetta, the provincial capital of the southwestern province of Balochistan, to Peshawar, the capital of the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, when it was attacked.
Fighters belonging to the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), a separatist group seeking Balochistan’s secession from Pakistan, claimed responsibility for the attack. The train was targeted as it was passing through tunnels near Sibi city, about 160km (100 miles) from Quetta.
But after more than a day of armed combat, General Ahmad Sharif, director general of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing, said, “We have managed to eliminate all 33 BLA attackers.”
However, security officials also confirmed that 21 passengers and at least four paramilitary soldiers involved in the military counteroffensive, were killed.
Here is what we know about the attack, the current situation and the background behind the decades-long conflict between separatist groups in Balochistan.
What happened to the Jaffar Express?
The train was carrying nearly 400 passengers, including many women and children, as well as dozens of security personnel.
Jaffar Express departed from Quetta at 9am (04:00 GMT) on Tuesday, embarking on a journey of more than 1,600km (994 miles) through Punjab to reach its final destination, Peshawar. The trip takes roughly 30 hours, with stops at about 30 stations across the country.
Railway officials said the attack took place at about 1pm (08:00 GMT) as the train passed through the rugged, mountainous Bolan Pass. The area is home to several tunnels originally constructed during British colonial rule.
Who carried out the attack and how has the government responded?
The BLA, which has carried out numerous attacks in the province over the past several years, claimed responsibility for the attack.
In a statement, the group claimed to have killed at least six military personnel and blown up the railway track, forcing the train to a halt. The BLA warned that any military operation in response would have “severe consequences”. The attackers claimed that passengers on the train were hostages, although dozens of them later reached a nearby station, Panir.
The government condemned the attack. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said he was praying for the recovery of the injured.
“The beasts who fire on innocent passengers do not deserve any concessions,” Naqvi’s statement read.
What do we know about the rescued passengers and casualties?
On Tuesday evening, Rana Farrukh, a Pakistan Railways official in Quetta, had said that nearly 70 passengers, including women, children and the elderly, first reached Panir railway station, approximately 6km (four miles) from the attack site.
“They completed the journey on foot, following the railway track,” Farrukh told Al Jazeera, without providing further details about the passengers.
After security forces reached the site of the attack, more than 50 others were rescued, with a known figure of 127 passengers now safe and no longer on the train.
By early Wednesday afternoon, government officials said the figure of released or rescued passengers had risen to 155, and then, a few hours later, to 190.
On Wednesday night, officials declared the operation over.
“We are busy in clearance operation now. The operation was carried out with the help of Special Services Group, paramilitary forces as well as Pakistani Air Force,” Chaudhry of the ISPR said in a statement on a private television channel.
Pakistani officials used a special freight train to move rescued passengers first to the larger Mach station, about 65km (40 miles) from Quetta and 90km (55 miles) from where the attack took place. At Mach station, passengers were given food and first aid. They have subsequently been brought by train to Quetta.
What were the BLA’s demands?
The BLA said it was holding hostages, including security personnel, and gave Pakistan’s government a 48-hour ultimatum, demanding the “unconditional release of Baloch political prisoners, forcibly disappeared persons and national resistance activists”.
Neither the government nor the military has so far issued any official statement regarding the BLA’s demand.
Who has been killed?
Security sources said they have killed 33 BLA fighters — the entire set of attackers that targeted the train, per Chaudhry.
In addition, they said, 21 passengers and at least four paramilitary soldiers, had been killed.
Security sources claim the attackers used women and children as human shields, preventing an all-out offensive against them. Al Jazeera could not independently verify this claim.
How rare is this attack?
Baloch separatists have repeatedly attacked the Jaffar Express in the last few years. It is commonly used by security personnel, mostly from Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces. The last major attack on the train took place in November when a suicide bomber detonated himself at the Quetta railway station as it prepared to depart.
The BLA took responsibility for that attack, in which at least 30 people were killed.
In August 2024, attackers blew up part of a track in Balochistan, resulting in the suspension of the Jaffar Express for two months before services resumed in October. In January last year, separatists exploded another bomb on the train’s route near the Bolan area, injuring at least 13 people.
Yet, this is the first time that Baloch fighters – or any armed group – have hijacked an entire train in Pakistan.
Globally, too, train hijacks are rare.
Chinese bandits hijacked a luxury train in May 1923 for 37 days, holding at least 300 passengers travelling from Shanghai to Beijing hostage.
The Netherlands saw train hijackings in 1975 and 1977, when Moluccan nationalists targeted trains and held passengers hostage.
In 2009, more than 300 Maoist rebels hijacked a train in the eastern state of Jharkhand as it travelled from the neighbouring West Bengal state to New Delhi, the country’s capital.
Why have attacks in Balochistan surged?
Balochistan is Pakistan’s largest province by area but the least developed, with a population of 15 million.
Despite being rich in minerals and natural resources, including copper and gas, the province has long been the site of conflict between the local population and the government.
Baloch separatists, who demand independence from Pakistan, accuse the state of abducting and persecuting those who speak out against it.
The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a $62bn megadevelopment infrastructure project launched a decade ago, has added another layer of complexity to the conflict.
The BLA has carried out numerous attacks on Chinese interests, including at Gwadar Port, CPEC’s flagship project. Several Chinese citizens have been killed in these attacks.
In recent months, Balochistan has witnessed a dramatic surge in violence. Last month, at least 18 soldiers were killed in a BLA attack in Kalat city. Earlier in March, a female suicide bomber detonated herself, also in Kalat, killing a law enforcement officer.
How has the BLA enhanced its capabilities?
Analysts believe the BLA’s growing strength reflects the state’s failure to counter the group’s fighters and its reliance on outdated strategies.
Malik Siraj Akbar, a Balochistan specialist based in Washington, DC, said the BLA has evolved from carrying out small attacks, such as targeting individuals or sabotaging pipelines, to large-scale operations.
“The group now undertakes major attacks, like the recent assault on a passenger train. This shift reflects both its increasing audacity and its confidence that the government lacks the capability to contain them, let alone pursue them effectively after such high-profile acts of terrorism,” Akbar told Al Jazeera.
Rafiullah Kakar, a political analyst specialising in Balochistan affairs, said the BLA has strengthened its command structure, giving fighters in the field more direct control over operations.
“Additionally, access to advanced weaponry, some of which was left behind by US forces in Afghanistan, has enhanced the group’s firepower, making their attacks more lethal and sophisticated,” Kakar told Al Jazeera.
Why has the state failed to curb the BLA’s rise?
In January, the Islamabad-based think tank Pak Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS) warned that the situation in Balochistan was “alarming”. Its report noted a 119 percent increase in attacks, with more than 150 incidents recorded last year.
The state announced plans for a major military campaign in Balochistan, but it has yet to materialise.
However, Akbar says that in the aftermath of such attacks, the state has repeatedly launched military operations – but those crackdowns often targeted innocent Baloch civilians without evidence linking them to the BLA or the armed rebellion.
“The government seems more concerned with optics than justice, considering its job done once it parades a few dead bodies on camera, claiming swift retaliation,” he said.
He also argued that the military was at a disadvantage in retaliating against fighters in Balochistan.
“The BLA has superior knowledge of the terrain, whereas security forces, who mostly come from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab, lack familiarity with the land and routes. This gives insurgents a major advantage,” Akbar said, adding that the military was suffering from intelligence failures.
Can the government stop the BLA’s resurgence?
Kakar, who is pursuing a doctorate at the University of Cambridge, argued that the worsening security situation stems not just from intelligence failures but from a widening disconnect between the state and Baloch citizens.
“Over the past decade, the province has become a laboratory for political engineering led by the military establishment, with six different chief ministers in 10 years, excluding caretaker setups,” he said.
This instability, he added, has eroded democratic processes, undermining parliamentary politics as a viable means of political struggle.
“The biggest beneficiaries of this growing state-citizen divide have been Baloch insurgents, who are increasingly able to recruit young men willing to embark on suicidal missions,” Kakar said.
Akbar agreed, arguing that the state refuses to treat the Baloch population with dignity.
“Islamabad relies on a provincial administration that acts as a puppet of the military, pushing propaganda to convince the world that there is no crisis in Balochistan and that the state remains firmly in control,” he said.
Additional reporting by Saadullah Akhtar from Quetta, Pakistan
