Defence Minister Khawaja Asif is currently addressing the National Assembly and speaking about the recent hijacking of the Jaffar Express train in Balochistan.
The incident occurred on Tuesday morning when the train, travelling from Quetta to Peshawar and carrying 440 passengers, was ambushed by Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) terrorists. The terrorists opened fire on the train and held the passengers hostage, prompting the security forces to initiate an operation that lasted two days.
Speaking to a private news channel late Wednesday evening, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry confirmed that the operation had been concluded, with 33 terrorists present at the site of the attack neutralised. He said that since the terrorists used hostages, including women and children, as human shields, the security forces had to proceed with extra caution as BLA members wearing suicide vests had been placed between groups of hostages.
He also confirmed that 21 passengers and four Frontier Corps personnel lost their lives in the hijacking, but no hostages were harmed during the final rescue phase.
Recalling the successful completion of the clearance operation, Asif said, “God forbid, there could have been a lot of casualties”, but the security forces completely eliminated the terrorists.
More to follow
