Islamabad: Security forces have eliminated all militants and rescued 190 hostages in a clearance operation launched after an unknown number of heavily armed terrorists stormed a Peshawar-bound train in Balochistan’s Bolan district, media reports said here on Wednesday.
According to security sources, the forces successfully rescued a large number of hostages, including women and children, who had been used as human shields by the terrorists.
The clearance operation was carried out with extreme caution and skill, resulting in the saving of many innocent lives, security sources stated. It was also revealed that the number of passengers who had fallen victim to the terrorists’ brutality is being determined.
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 on Tuesday, according to security sources.
Following the attack, the security forces launched an immediate clearance operation, leading to the deaths of all terrorists, security sources reported. Security officials added that further details regarding the operation will be shared soon, the Express Tribune reported.
Security sources also confirmed that the terrorists responsible for the cowardly attack on the Jaffar Express were in contact with their mastermind in Afghanistan.
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, according to media reports.
The attackers bombed the railway track before storming aboard the train, said the security forces.
Sources indicated that the railway tracks had been destroyed with explosives, causing the train to stop, after which firing began, resulting in the death of the driver and several passengers.
Following the Jaffer Express incident, a help desk has been set up for passenger inquiries, and trains from Peshawar and Quetta have been stopped at the Sibi station.
Meanwhile, train services from Quetta to other regions of the country have been halted following the terrorist attack.
President Asif Ali Zardari and PM Shhebaz Sharif strongly condemned the attack on the Jaffer Express, stating that attacks on innocent passengers are inhumane and reprehensible.
The incident has raised concerns about 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. UNI
