Separatist militants attacked a passenger train traveling from Quetta to Peshawar in southwestern Pakistan on Tuesday, injuring at least three people including the train’s driver, and taking over 450 passengers hostage, according to Pakistani officials.
The Jaffar Express, with around 500 passengers on board in nine bogies, was on its way from Quetta in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province to Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa when it was fired on, railway officials said.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi condemned the attack on the Jaffar Express near Bolan Tuesday evening. "Those beasts who fired upon innocent passengers deserve no leniency,” Naqvi said in a statement. The interior minister also prayed for the speedy recovery of those injured in the firing incident.
In a statement, the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), a militant separatist group, claimed responsibility for the attack and said they had taken hostages from the train. The group threatened harm to passengers if security forces attempted a rescue operation.
"Over 450 passengers onboard are being held hostage by gunmen,” Muhammad Kashif, a senior railway government official in Quetta, the capital of the province, told AFP.
Opposition party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) expressed "deep concern” over the attack, with spokesman Sheikh Waqas Akram demanding authorities take effective measures for hostages’ safe recovery while criticizing the government’s "incompetence” in handling security threats
Emergency response underway
Local Levies forces reported that security forces have been dispatched to the scene, and authorities have imposed emergency measures at hospitals in nearby Sibi and Dhadar districts in anticipation of casualties.
A railway official said security forces had reached the scene of the incident in the Mushqaf area of the Bolan district of Balochistan.
The Balochistan government has imposed emergency measures and all institutions have been mobilized to deal with the situation, government spokesperson Shahid Rind said.
Attempts are being made to contact passengers and staff, Railway Controller Muhammad Kashif said.
Growing violence in Balochistan
Pakistan has witnessed a sharp rise in terrorist incidents over the past year, particularly in Balochistan province where separatist groups seek independence.
The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), the largest of several ethnic insurgent groups, has waged a decades-long insurgency against the Pakistani government, military, and Chinese interests in the region.
According to the recently released Global Terrorism Index 2025, attacks by Baloch separatist groups increased from 116 in 2023 to 504 in 2024, with related deaths surging more than fourfold to 388.
Security experts have noted that Baloch militant groups have evolved their tactics to include operating openly on highways and seizing control of transportation infrastructure, representing what some analysts describe as "a new level of insurgency.”
These separatist militants demand a greater share of the province’s rich mineral and gas resources, which they claim are unfairly exploited by the central government.
*With Input from Reuters and AFP
