Pakistan militants attack train and take passengers hostage

Armed militants in Pakistan’s Balochistan region have attacked a train carrying hundreds of passengers and taken a number of hostages, military sources have told the BBC.

The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) fired at the Jaffar Express Train as it travelled from Quetta to Peshawar.

A statement from the separatist group said it had bombed the track before storming the train in remote Sibi district. It claimed the train was under its control.

Pakistani police told local reporters at least three people, including the train driver, had been injured. Security forces have been sent to the scene, as well as helicopters to try to rescue hostages, police told the BBC.

There were reports of “intense firing” at the train, a Balochistan government spokesman told local newspaper Dawn. A senior police official said it “remains stuck just before a tunnel surrounded by mountains”, AFP news agency reports.

A senior army official confirmed to the BBC that there were more than 100 army personnel travelling from Quetta on the train.

The Baloch Liberation Army has warned of “severe consequences” if an attempt is made to rescue those it is holding.

It has waged a decades-long insurgency to gain independence and has launched numerous deadly attacks, often targeting police stations, railway lines and highways. The Pakistani authorities – as well as several Western countries, including the UK and US – have designated the BLA as a terrorist organisation.

Quetta’s railway controller Muhammad Kashif told the BBC that 400-450 passengers had been booked on the train. Officials have not confirmed how many they think have been taken hostage.

A local railway official in Quetta told the BBC that a group of at least 60 passengers had disembarked the train and reached the nearest railway station, Panir. The official said the group was made up of locals from the province of Balochistan.

Railway officials in Quetta, quoting paramilitary sources, told the BBC that women and children had disembarked from the train and were walking towards the city of Sibi. They did not have an exact number.

Meanwhile, families of passengers are trying to get information from the counter at Quetta railway station.

The son of one passenger, Muhammad Ashraf, who left Quetta for Lahore on Tuesday morning, told BBC Urdu he had not been able to contact his father. Officials say they are yet to communicate with anyone on the train.

The area has no internet and mobile network coverage, officials told the BBC.

Balochistan is Pakistan’s largest province and the richest in terms of natural resources, but it is the least developed.

Additional reporting by Usman Zahid and BBC Urdu