Latest news with #NazimFarooq
Jordan Times
12-03-2025
- Politics
- Jordan Times
Pakistan security forces free 190 hostages in train siege
A paramilitary soldier stands guard at a railway station in Quetta on March 12, 2025 (AFP photo) SIBI, Pakistan - Pakistan security sources said on Wednesday the military had freed 190 train passengers taken hostage by gunmen as a deadly siege in the mountainous southwest stretched through its second day. More than 450 passengers were on board when a militant separatist group captured the train in a remote frontier district of Balochistan province on Tuesday afternoon, with an unknown number of hostages still being held."So far, 190 passengers have been rescued, and 30 terrorists have been killed. Due to the presence of women and children with suicide bombers, extreme caution is being exercised," a security source told AFP."The operation continues to eliminate the remaining militants."An AFP photographer in Quetta, the provincial capital, witnessed about 140 empty coffins being transported by train to the incident site on assault was immediately claimed by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), which released a video of an explosion on the track followed by dozens of militants emerging from hiding places in the mountains and storming onto the by separatist groups who accuse outsiders of plundering natural resources in Balochistan, which borders Afghanistan and Iran, have soared in the past few years. The deaths of three people have been confirmed so far -- the train driver, a police officer and a soldier -- according to paramedic Nazim Farooq and railway official Muhammad Aslam.A security official in the area also told AFP: "Information suggests that some militants have fled, taking an unknown number of hostages into the local mountainous areas."Muhammad Kashif, a senior railway government official in Quetta, said on Tuesday afternoon that the 450 passengers on board had been taken who walked for hours through rugged mountains to reach safety described being set free by the militants."Our women pleaded with them, and they spared us," Babar Masih, a 38-year-old Christian labourer told AFP on Wednesday. "They told us to get out and not look back. As we ran, I noticed many others running alongside us."Muhammad Bilal, who was travelling with his mother on the Jaffar Express train, described their ordeal as "terrifying". "I can't find the words to describe how we managed to escape," he told AFP.
Express Tribune
12-03-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
Troops in action after terrorists hijack train, take hostages
Security forces on Tuesday liquidated 16 terrorists in a clearance operation launched after an unknown number of heavily armed terrorists stormed a Peshawar-bound train in Balochistan's Bolan district and took hundreds of passengers, including women and children, hostage in a brazen attack which, according to security sources, was orchestrated by their "overseas" handlers. Jaffar Express, with over 400 passengers on board in nine bogies, was on its way from Quetta to Peshawar when it came under attack in the Dhadar area of Bolan Pass, according to security sources. The volatile province has been caught up in a deadly spiral of separatist violence stoked by hostile agencies working to destabilise it for their geostrategic objectives. So far, 104 passengers have been rescued, said the security sources, adding, among those rescued were 58 men, 31 women and 15 children. Moreover, 17 injured individuals had been shifted to hospitals, the security sources said and added that heavy gunfire was ongoing with the gunmen. The terrorists were in contact with their overseas handlers via satellite phone, the security sources noted and said they have encircled the terrorists by dividing them into small teams. It all started after armed gunmen forced the train to a halt in a remote, mountainous area of the province on Tuesday afternoon, with the assault immediately claimed by the banned Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), a terrorist group behind rising violence in the province. The attackers bombed the railway track before storming aboard the train, said the security forces. The locomotive was stopped just before a tunnel, and terrorists took control of the train in a remote, mountainous area of the province. "Efforts are ongoing to ensure the safe release of the remaining passengers. The terrorists have been surrounded, and the operation will continue until the last terrorist is neutralised," AFP quoted the security sources as saying. However, due to the challenging mountainous terrain, the operation is progressing cautiously, they added. A nearby railway station in Mach has been turned into a makeshift hospital to receive some of the wounded. The driver of the train, a police officer and soldier were all martyred in the assault, according to paramedic Nazim Farooq and railway official Muhammad Aslam, both at Mach railway station. Earlier in the day, Muhammad Kashif, a senior railway government official in Quetta, told AFP that "over 450 passengers onboard are being held hostage by gunmen." A district senior police officer, Rana Dilawar, said helicopters and special forces had been deployed. The incident has raised concerns over the security of the railway routes passing through remote areas of the province. Officials have, however, assured the public that measures are being taken to prevent such attacks in the future. In November last year, at least 26 people, including 16 security personnel, lost their lives and 61 others were injured in a suicide bombing at a Quetta railway station. The bomber had detonated the explosive on the platform where large crowds were awaiting Jaffar Express. (WITH ADDITIONAL INPUT FROM OUR RAWALPINDI CORRESPONDENT AND AGENCIES)
Al-Ahram Weekly
11-03-2025
- Politics
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Dozens freed, hundreds still held hostage in deadly Pakistan train siege - International
Pakistani troops freed dozens of train passengers taken hostage by armed militants in the country's southwest on Tuesday, with hundreds more still being held in the deadly siege. Security sources said that heavy gunfire was ongoing between security forces and the militants. Gunmen forced the train to a halt in a remote, mountainous area of Balochistan province on Tuesday afternoon, with the assault immediately claimed by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), a separatist group behind rising violence in the province which borders Afghanistan and Iran. "Security forces have successfully freed 80 hostages, including 43 men, 26 women, and 11 children, from the terrorists," security sources told AFP, adding that 13 militants had been killed. "Efforts are ongoing to ensure the safe release of the remaining passengers. The terrorists have been surrounded, and the operation will continue until the last terrorist is neutralized." A nearby railway station in Mach has been turned into a makeshift hospital to receive some of the wounded. The driver of the train, a police officer and soldier were all killed in the assault, according to paramedic Nazim Farooq and railway official Muhammad Aslam, both at Mach railway station. Earlier in the day, Muhammad Kashif, a senior railway government official in Quetta, the capital of the province, told AFP that "over 450 passengers onboard are being held hostage by gunmen." In a statement, the BLA said gunmen bombed the railway track before storming aboard the train. "The militants swiftly took control of the train and have taken all passengers hostage," said the statement released to media. The group "warned of severe consequences" if an attempt is made to rescue the hostages. The incident happened around 1:00 pm (0800 GMT) in rural Sibi district, near to a city station where the train had been due to stop. The train had left Quetta for Peshawar, in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a more than 30-hour journey, at around 9:00 am. A senior police official from the area bordering Sibi, who asked not to be named because he was not authorised to speak to the media, said that "the train remains stuck just before a tunnel surrounded by mountains". An emergency has been imposed at hospitals in Sibi, according to the government official. Decades-long insurgency The area is a mountainous region making it easier for militants to have hideouts and plan attacks. Security forces have been battling a decades-long insurgency in impoverished Balochistan, which militant groups claim is being exploited by outsiders, with wealth from its natural resources syphoned off with little benefit to the local population. But violence has soared in the western border regions with Afghanistan, from north to south, since the Taliban took back power in 2021. Pakistan accuses the Taliban government in Kabul of offering safe haven to militants to plan attacks. The Taliban government denies the charge. The BLA have launched larger scale attacks in recent months, including holding a motorway overnight and identifying travellers from outside the province and shooting them dead. BLA militants also killed seven Punjabi travellers in February after they were ordered off a bus. In November, the BLA claimed responsibility for a bombing at Quetta's main railway station that killed 26 people, including 14 soldiers. Last year was the deadliest year in almost a decade, with more than 1,600 people killed in attacks in Pakistan, mostly in the border regions, according to the Center for Research and Security Studies, an Islamabad-based analysis group. Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
