Balochistan National Party leader Akhtar Mengal and Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party leader Mahmood Khan Achakzai are expected to meet Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan in Adiala Jail.
This meeting is very important, especially after the Jaffar Express train attack on Tuesday launched by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA).
Earlier, Terrorists stormed the Jaffar Express in a rocky area of Balochistan on Tuesday, taking over 400 passengers’ hostages, including a sizable number of security officers, creating an unprecedented hostage crisis.
Security troops reported that they had launched a large operation in the Dhadar area of Bolan Pass to rescue the captives, killing at least 16 of the attackers, despite the area’s remoteness.
Officials said that at least 10 persons, including the locomotive driver, had died in the attack, while the exact number of casualties was not confirmed.
Security forces claimed to have saved over 100 passengers — which included women and children — from the attackers, who had taken the hostages into the dangerous mountains of the Bolan range. It was not immediately clear whether these people had been freed as the result of kinetic military action or were among those allegedly freed by the armed assailants. An operation to recover the rest of the abducted passengers and bring the attackers to justice continued in the area around the Mushkaf Tunnel.
Since terrorists had never before tried to attack or capture a whole train and its passengers, the hijacking represents a first of its kind.
The incident was attributed to the outlawed Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), which also claimed to have captured many hostages. Additionally, the organization asserted that they had liberated many individuals, including women and children, however, these claims were not independently confirmed.
Ten persons, including the locomotive’s driver and eight security guards, had died, according to Imran Hayat, the Railways Divisional Superintendent (DS) in Quetta.
According to security officials, the existence of hostages in the terrorists’ captivity meant that the rescue effort was being carried out with extra caution.
After being rescued by security personnel, about 104 passengers—58 men, 31 women, and 15 children—were taken to the nearby Paneer train station. A relief train had evacuated them to nearby Mach station, while efforts were underway for the safe recovery of the remaining passengers.
The Jaffar Express was scheduled to carry about 750 passengers, but the train only departed Quetta with about 450 people on board, according to railway officials.
