Pakistan’s Military Rescues Over 150 Hostages From Militants

Pakistan’s military have rescued more than 150 hostages in a deadly standoff for more than 24 hours with armed militants who hijacked a train and took hostages, in a dramatic escalation of an insurgency that has plagued the region for decades.

The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), a militant separatist group active in the restive and mineral-rich southwestern Balochistan province, claimed responsibility for the attack.

Around 450 passengers were on the Jaffer Express enroute from Balochistan’s capital Quetta to Peshawar in the north, when militants opened “intense gunfire” as the train traveled through a tunnel early in its journey, according to officials.

Pakistan’s military launched an operation to confront the attackers who used “women and children as shields,” according to security sources not authorized to speak to CNN.

By early Wednesday morning, 155 hostages had been rescued and 27 militants killed, according to the security sources, with video showing elderly women, men and children looking pale, frightened – but relieved – as they reunited with their families. It’s unclear how many people are still being held.

One rescued woman described scenes of chaos following the attack, likening it to the “Day of Judgement.” She told CNN she fled gunfire and walked for two hours to reach safety.

Passenger Mohammad Ashraf told CNN he saw more than 100 armed individuals on the train and that no harm was inflicted on women and children.

At least 10 civilians and members of Pakistan’s security forces had been killed, according to government and railway officials.

The security sources accused the militants of being in contact with handlers in Afghanistan.

Pakistan’s military and government have long accused Afghanistan of providing sanctuary to militant groups, something its Taliban leaders have denied.

Evolving Insurgency

Tuesday’s kidnapping is an audacious moment for a separatist insurgency who seeks greater political autonomy and economic development in the strategically important and mineral-rich mountainous region.

But it also highlights the ever-deteriorating security situation there – one that Pakistan’s government has been grappling with for decades.

Balochistan’s population – made up mostly of the ethnic Baloch group – is deeply disenfranchised, impoverished, and has been growing increasingly alienated from the federal government by decades of policies widely seen as discriminatory.

An insurgency there has been ongoing for decades but has gained traction in recent years since the province’s deep-water Gwadar port was leased to China, the jewel in the crown of Beijing’s “Belt and Road” infrastructure push in Pakistan.

CNN/Ejiofor Ezeifeoma