Afghanistan denies link to train attack in Pakistan
The Afghan Taliban have rejected Pakistan's allegation that Tuesday's deadly hostage-taking of a train was planned and directed from Afghan soil.
Afghanistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs called Pakistan's assertions "baseless," in a statement Thursday.
"We categorically reject baseless allegations by Pakistani army spokesperson linking attack on a passenger train in Balochistan province with Afghanistan," foreign ministry spokesperson Abdul Qahar Balkhi said in a statement posted on X.
Militants linked with the banned Baloch Liberation Army attacked a passenger train Tuesday near Sibi, Balochistan, taking hundreds hostage.
At least 21 passengers and four paramilitary troops died in the attack. The military claimed the killing of 33 terrorists.
Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, director general of the Pakistani military's media wing Inter Services Public Relations, had earlier said attackers collaborated with partners in Afghanistan.
"During the operation, these terrorists were in contact with their supporters and masterminds in Afghanistan via satellite phone," Chaudhry told a private news channel as he declared the clearance operation over Wednesday night.
Later, the military's media wing reiterated the assertion.
"Intelligence reports have unequivocally confirmed that the attack was orchestrated and directed by terrorist ringleaders operating from Afghanistan, who were in direct communication with terrorists throughout the incident," a statement from the ISPR said.
Rebutting the claim, Balkhi said Islamabad must address internal issues.
"[We] urge Pakistani side to focus on resolving their own security and internal problems instead of such irresponsible remarks," the Taliban foreign ministry spokesperson said.
Tuesday's attack marked a dramatic escalation in the separatist insurgency that has ravaged Balochistan for nearly two decades.
The militants blew up tracks, bringing the train with nearly 450 passengers to a halt in a tunnel, where they stormed it.
Survivors told VOA the attackers singled out security personnel and ethnic Punjabi passengers, shooting many.
"Pakistan expects the Interim Afghan Government to uphold its responsibilities and deny use of its soil for terrorist activities against Pakistan," the military said in written comments to the media Wednesday, repeating an increasingly frequent demand.
On Thursday, the spokesperson for Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Shafqat Ali Khan, repeated Islamabad's stance.
"We urge Afghanistan to hold perpetrators, organizers, financiers, of this reprehensible act of terrorism accountable and cooperate with the government of Pakistan to bring all those who are concerned with this attack, including the real sponsors of terrorism, to justice," Khan told media at the weekly briefing.
Balkhi rejected the allegation that Baloch separatists have put down roots across the border.
"No members of Balouch opposition have presence in Afghanistan, nor have they ever had or have any links with the Islamic Emirate," Balkhi said in his post on X. The Taliban refer to their government as the Islamic Emirate.
Pakistan has seen a sharp increase in terrorism in the last year, with deaths rising by nearly 45% in 2024 from the year before.
The country now ranks second on the Global Terrorism Watchlist with Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, an ideological offshoot of the Afghan Taliban, and the separatist Baloch Liberation Army emerging as the deadliest outfits.
Speaking at a United Nations Security Council meeting on Afghanistan this week, Pakistan's permanent representative to the United Nations, Munir Akram, said Kabul was failing to rein in Baloch separatists.
"The Kabul authorities have failed to address the threat posed to the region and beyond by other terrorist groups, such as al Qaida, the TTP and Baloch terrorists, including the BLA and the Majeed Brigade, which are present in Afghanistan," the Pakistani envoy said Monday.
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Voice of America
14-03-2025
- Voice of America
Military says death toll in Pakistan's train hijacking rises to 31
Pakistan officials confirmed Friday that 31 people, including 23 security personnel, lost their lives in Tuesday's train hijacking by armed militants in the country's restive Balochistan province. In a news briefing, Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said 18 off-duty military and paramilitary Frontier Corps personnel, three railway staff and five civilian passengers were among those killed in the initial attack. Five Frontier Corps personnel were also killed in the attack and the ensuing battle with militants. Separatist militants from Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), a designated terror group, took over the Jaffar Express near Sibi hours after it left the provincial capital, Quetta, on Tuesday. In the clearance operation that lasted more than 30 hours, the Pakistan military said it killed 33 BLA terrorists. Chaudhry, director general of military public relations, said 354 passengers were freed, 37 of whom were injured. Officials also revised the tally of passengers on the train downward to 425 from 440. Speaking alongside Chaudhry, Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti said 425 tickets were sold for the cross-country train. However, passengers could board at any station along the roughly 1,600-kilometer route, which, Bugti said, largely explained the gap between the number of passengers and those rescued. 'Maybe some did not travel; some were boarding later, maybe some of those who ran [from the terrorists] lost their way, and maybe some got caught [by the terrorists],' the chief minister said. Blaming neighbors Tuesday's attack marked a dramatic escalation in the separatist insurgency that has seen a sharp increase in violence in recent months. In 2024, the BLA and other Baloch separatist groups killed nearly 400 people in over 500 attacks. Pakistani officials blamed archrival India, accusing it of providing support to anti-Pakistan militants in Afghanistan, a charge New Delhi quickly rejected. 'We strongly reject the baseless allegations made by Pakistan,' Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told reporters. Bugti and Chaudhry reiterated the claim that Tuesday's attack was orchestrated by militants with bases in Afghanistan, a charge Afghan foreign ministry spokesperson Abdul Qahar Balkhi rejected Thursday. Intelligence failure? Pakistani officials acknowledged there was a security threat, but rejected questions that the brazen hijacking in the heavily militarized province was an intelligence failure. 'There was a threat in the general area,' said Chaudhry, adding that it was not specifically about an attack on the train. 'There are thousands of intelligence success stories too behind [such incidents], which you don't know — incidents that did not happen because our intelligence was successfully able to detect them,' he said. The military spokesperson said law enforcement agencies have conducted 11,654 intelligence-based operations across the country so far this year. Nearly 60,000 such operations were conducted nationwide last year, he said. Resource-rich Balochistan is Pakistan's largest and least-populated province, where members of the ethnic Baloch minority say they face discrimination and exploitation by the government in Islamabad. In the last 15 months, 1,250 terrorists from various groups have been killed in Pakistan, along with 563 security personnel, Chaudhry said.
Voice of America
13-03-2025
- Voice of America
Afghanistan denies link to train attack in Pakistan
The Afghan Taliban have rejected Pakistan's allegation that Tuesday's deadly hostage-taking of a train was planned and directed from Afghan soil. Afghanistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs called Pakistan's assertions "baseless," in a statement Thursday. "We categorically reject baseless allegations by Pakistani army spokesperson linking attack on a passenger train in Balochistan province with Afghanistan," foreign ministry spokesperson Abdul Qahar Balkhi said in a statement posted on X. Militants linked with the banned Baloch Liberation Army attacked a passenger train Tuesday near Sibi, Balochistan, taking hundreds hostage. At least 21 passengers and four paramilitary troops died in the attack. The military claimed the killing of 33 terrorists. Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, director general of the Pakistani military's media wing Inter Services Public Relations, had earlier said attackers collaborated with partners in Afghanistan. "During the operation, these terrorists were in contact with their supporters and masterminds in Afghanistan via satellite phone," Chaudhry told a private news channel as he declared the clearance operation over Wednesday night. Later, the military's media wing reiterated the assertion. "Intelligence reports have unequivocally confirmed that the attack was orchestrated and directed by terrorist ringleaders operating from Afghanistan, who were in direct communication with terrorists throughout the incident," a statement from the ISPR said. Rebutting the claim, Balkhi said Islamabad must address internal issues. "[We] urge Pakistani side to focus on resolving their own security and internal problems instead of such irresponsible remarks," the Taliban foreign ministry spokesperson said. Tuesday's attack marked a dramatic escalation in the separatist insurgency that has ravaged Balochistan for nearly two decades. The militants blew up tracks, bringing the train with nearly 450 passengers to a halt in a tunnel, where they stormed it. Survivors told VOA the attackers singled out security personnel and ethnic Punjabi passengers, shooting many. "Pakistan expects the Interim Afghan Government to uphold its responsibilities and deny use of its soil for terrorist activities against Pakistan," the military said in written comments to the media Wednesday, repeating an increasingly frequent demand. On Thursday, the spokesperson for Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Shafqat Ali Khan, repeated Islamabad's stance. "We urge Afghanistan to hold perpetrators, organizers, financiers, of this reprehensible act of terrorism accountable and cooperate with the government of Pakistan to bring all those who are concerned with this attack, including the real sponsors of terrorism, to justice," Khan told media at the weekly briefing. Balkhi rejected the allegation that Baloch separatists have put down roots across the border. "No members of Balouch opposition have presence in Afghanistan, nor have they ever had or have any links with the Islamic Emirate," Balkhi said in his post on X. The Taliban refer to their government as the Islamic Emirate. Pakistan has seen a sharp increase in terrorism in the last year, with deaths rising by nearly 45% in 2024 from the year before. The country now ranks second on the Global Terrorism Watchlist with Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, an ideological offshoot of the Afghan Taliban, and the separatist Baloch Liberation Army emerging as the deadliest outfits. Speaking at a United Nations Security Council meeting on Afghanistan this week, Pakistan's permanent representative to the United Nations, Munir Akram, said Kabul was failing to rein in Baloch separatists. "The Kabul authorities have failed to address the threat posed to the region and beyond by other terrorist groups, such as al Qaida, the TTP and Baloch terrorists, including the BLA and the Majeed Brigade, which are present in Afghanistan," the Pakistani envoy said Monday.
Voice of America
13-03-2025
- Voice of America
Eyewitnesses give harrowing account of Pakistan train attack
Passengers of a Pakistani train held hostage in the restive Balochistan province shared with VOA disturbing details of their ordeal on Wednesday as the military completed an hourslong rescue operation and killed 33 terrorists. Speaking to a private news channel, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, director general of military's media wing, Inter Services Public Relations, said that all hostages were rescued. Two of the passengers described to VOA harrowing moments with the Baloch Liberation Army. "They shot and killed people on the train. They said, 'Come out quietly and we will let you go.' We came outside and sat down," said Jamshed Ajmal. The militants then asked passengers of Punjabi and Saraiki ethnicity to come forward, he said. "Then they picked out police officers and tied their hands and shot them several times. At night, they picked out 10 more people and shot them," Ajmal said. "Whoever didn't leave the train, they killed them," he said. "We planned to run away. We escaped and came to our [armed] forces." Another passenger, Allah Ditta, told VOA that he and several others ran for their lives after militants pulled them off the train. "When we saw two people quietly escape, then we all braved up and started running. Still 150 to 200 people were left sitting," Ditta said. "Some soldiers also ran and that's when we felt brave, too, and we ran for about 2 kilometers and reached a frontier corps post." According to earlier reports, close to 200 passengers had been freed before the final push Wednesday evening. The attack The Jaffar Express, a cross-country train with roughly 450 people on board, came under a bomb and gun attack on Tuesday while passing through a tunnel near Sibi, Balochistan, on its way north to Peshawar from Quetta. Separatists belonging to the banned BLA claimed responsibility for the attack. Pakistan and the United States have designated BLA a terrorist group. The military spokesperson said the army, air force, paramilitary frontier corps, and commandos of the Special Services Group took part in the operation that lasted almost 30 hours. "Since terrorists were holding passengers as human shields, the operation was conducted with skill and caution," Chaudhry said, adding that snipers killed suicide bombers before forces advanced to clear the train's nine cars. The spokesperson said no passengers were killed during the operation. However, he said 21 passengers died in the initial attack by the BLA. Four frontier corps personnel were also killed, including one during the clearance operation, Chaudhry said. A bomb disposal squad searched the area for explosives, while passengers who escaped in several directions were gathered up, he said. "This incident of Jaffar Express changes the rules of the game," Chaudhry said, warning that terrorists will not be spared. The BLA had warned a day earlier that it would execute security personnel among the hostages if the state did not release political prisons, missing persons, and what it called resistance workers held in Balochistan prisons within 48 hours. BLA surges Since last August, BLA has claimed responsibility for several deadly attacks, primarily targeting security forces and workers from the eastern Punjab province, the seat of power in Pakistan. The separatist group accuses Pakistan of exploiting the rich natural resources of their impoverished province. The group also opposes Chinese investment in Balochistan, which is home to the China-funded Gwadar port and the country's biggest yet largely unused airport. Both Pakistan and China reject claims that their joint ventures are depriving ethnic Baloch of economic opportunities and their share in the province's mineral wealth. According to the Global Terrorism Index 2025, BLA is one of two militant groups driving a surge in violence that has pushed Pakistan to the second spot on the list of countries most affected by terrorism. According to the report, the separatist militant group launched 504 attacks in 2024, compared with 116 in 2023. Deaths in these attacks surged from 88 in 2023 to 388 in 2024. Military spokesperson Chaundry claimed Tuesday's attacker were in touch with planners in Afghanistan. Islamabad has blamed several recent attacks on militants present on Afghan soil. Afghan Taliban routinely deny providing sanctuary to anti-Pakistan fighters. Murtaza Zehri of VOA's Urdu Service contributed to this report.
