More than 340 hostages rescued from hijacked Pakistani train after standoff

The militants had threatened to start executing hostages unless authorities met their 48-hour deadline for the release of political prisoners, activists, and missing people.

The Pakistani military sent in hundreds of troops and also deployed the air force and special forces to tackle the militants. Source: AP / Anjum Naveed

More than 340 train passengers taken hostage by a militant group were freed on Wednesday by security forces after a 30-hour siege, an army official said, confirming that 27 off-duty soldiers were shot by militants.

Pakistan security forces launched a rescue mission on Wednesday afternoon after a separatist group bombed a railway track in mountainous south-west Balochistan and stormed a train with around 450 passengers on board.

"Three-forty-six hostages were freed and over 30 terrorists were killed during the operation," the army official told the Agence France-Presse news agency on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media.

More than 340 train passengers taken hostage by a militant group were freed by security forces after a 30-hour siege. Source: EPA / Fayyaz Ahmed

The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), which claimed the attack, said it had killed 50 passengers on Wednesday evening. It had said on Tuesday that it was holding 214 people, mostly security personnel.

It had threatened to start executing hostages unless authorities met its 48-hour deadline for the release of Baloch political prisoners, activists, and missing people it says had been abducted by the military.

The BLA is the largest of several ethnic armed groups battling the government in Balochistan, which borders Afghanistan and Iran.

The militants have in recent months stepped up their activities using new tactics to inflict high death and injury tolls and target Pakistan's military.

Baloch militant groups say they have been fighting for a larger share in the regional wealth of mines and minerals denied by the central government.

Soldiers and police were deployed at a railway station near south-west Balochistan where a train was hijacked. Source: AP / /

Militants in suicide vests

Junior interior minister Talal Chaudhry told Geo television earlier on Wednesday that militants were wearing suicide vests as they sat among the passengers held hostage, complicating the rescue attempt. He said 70-80 attackers had hijacked the train.

The military sent in hundreds of troops and also deployed the air force and special forces to tackle the militants, Chaudhry said.

In the final phase of the operation, he said special forces first took out the suicide bombers before troops went from carriage to carriage to kill the rest of the militants.

Muhammad Ashraf, 75, who was travelling on the train, said he heard a loud explosion in the mountainous area, which shook all the carriages.

"We lay on the floor once heavy firing started. Shortly after, armed men entered the train and checked our identities."