Passengers freed from the Jaffar Express after it was seized by armed militants in Pakistan’s Balochistan province have described the horrifying ordeal as “doomsday scenes.”
“We held our breath throughout the firing, not knowing what would happen next,” said Ishaq Noor, one of the passengers, in an interview with the BBC.
Noor was among more than 400 passengers on board the train traveling from Quetta to Peshawar on Tuesday when militants from the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) launched an attack, taking a number of people hostage. Several individuals, including the train’s driver, were reportedly injured in the assault.
According to military sources, 155 passengers have been rescued and 27 militants killed. However, these figures have not been independently verified, and rescue efforts remain ongoing.
Security forces have mobilized hundreds of troops to free the remaining captives, while authorities have also deployed helicopters and special forces personnel.
The BLA has issued a warning of “severe consequences” should an attempt be made to rescue the hostages.
Officials have revealed that at least 100 of the passengers on the train were members of the security forces. The exact number of individuals still being held hostage remains unclear. More than a dozen of those who have been released required hospital treatment.
Citing security officials, reports suggest that some militants may have left the train, taking an undetermined number of passengers with them into the surrounding mountainous terrain.
On Wednesday, the BBC witnessed dozens of wooden coffins being loaded at Quetta railway station. A railway official explained that these empty coffins were being transported in case they were needed to collect casualties.
Muhammad Ashraf, a passenger traveling from Quetta to Lahore to visit family, managed to escape from the train with a group late Tuesday.
“There was a lot of fear among the passengers. It was a scene of doomsday,” Ashraf recalled.
The group endured a nearly four-hour walk to the nearest railway station, with several men carrying weaker passengers on their shoulders.
“We reached the station with great difficulty because we were tired, and there were children and women with us,” he explained.
Noor, who was on the train with his wife and two children, described the intensity of the initial explosion.
“It was so intense that one of my children fell from the seat,” he said.
Amidst the gunfire, he and his wife each tried to shield one of their children.
“If a bullet comes our way, it will hit us and not the children,” Noor said.
Mushtaq Muhammad, another passenger in the train’s third carriage, described the terror among those on board.
“The attackers were talking to each other in Balochi, and their leader repeatedly told them to ‘keep an eye’ particularly on the security personnel to make sure that [the attackers] do not lose them,” he recounted.
As the night progressed, the militants began releasing some passengers, including Balochistan residents, women, children, and elderly individuals. Noor, who was among those freed, explained that he was released after telling the attackers he was from Turbat city in Balochistan and showing them that he had children and women with him.
Meanwhile, the family of train driver Amjad Yasin anxiously awaits updates after hearing of his injuries.
Yasin has worked as a train driver for 24 years and had previously survived an attack when explosives targeted another train he was driving eight years ago.
“For the past couple of weeks, we were under severe stress that something is about to happen as there was an air of fear,” his brother Amir told the BBC from Quetta.
The BLA has been waging an insurgency for decades, seeking independence for Balochistan. The group has carried out numerous deadly attacks, often targeting police stations, railway lines, and highways.
‘Gravely Concerned’
Pakistan’s counter-insurgency operations in Balochistan have been widely criticized, with allegations of enforced disappearances dating back to the early 2000s. Human rights organizations have accused security forces of carrying out torture and extra-judicial killings—claims the authorities have denied.
Both Pakistani authorities and Western countries, including the UK and the US, have designated the BLA as a terrorist organization.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has expressed deep concern over the train hijacking.
“We strongly urge all relevant stakeholders to forge an urgent rights-based, pro-people consensus on the issues faced by citizens in Balochistan and to find a peaceful, political solution,” the commission stated on X.
Meanwhile, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has strongly condemned the attack and has called for the immediate release of the remaining passengers.