Pakistan links train hijacking to ‘Afghan handlers’ and Indian mastermind

Pakistan army was able to eliminate at 33 fighters from separatist group BLA after a 36-hour long operation who had hijacked a train on March 11 with more than 400 passengers on board. [Fayyaz Ahmed/EPA]

Islamabad, Pakistan – Pakistan on Friday claimed that the hijacking of the Jaffar Express train earlier this week was carried out by “terrorists” who were communicating with “handlers in Afghanistan”, while alleging that India was the mastermind behind it.

“We must understand that in this terrorist incident in Balochistan, and others before, the main sponsor is eastern neighbour [India],” Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, the director general for the military’s media wing Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said during a news conference in Islamabad.