Separatist militants who have hijacked a train in Pakistan have said they will inflate it and perform all remaining 182 hostages in their detention if the authorities do not meet their requirements.
The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) held the train up and took about 400 passengers, said Pakistani officials, with around 200 of the attackers who were thought to have been released.
The Bla reportedly demanded that the Pakistani authorities immediately and unconditionally release prisoners who belong to the militant group, and threaten that the dozens of hostages would be killed differently.
They also warned that any attempt by the army to set up the Bla and to free the hostages to force violence would lead to them being killed, according to a function of the group on telegram.
De Bla said it had more than eight hours of control over the train during armed fights with Pakistani troops, during what time it claimed that it killed 30 government soldiers.
The Jaffar Express passenger train was held in a tunnel and the driver was previously seriously injured in a weapon fight on Tuesday, local officials said, without confirming the militants' account about hostages.
Safety forces said an explosion was heard near the tunnel and that they exchanged fire with the militants in a mountainous area.
De Bla, who is looking for independence for the province of Balochistan that borders both Afghanistan and Iran on both Afghanistan and Iran, said it had killed 20 soldiers and shot a drone. This was not confirmed by the Pakistani authorities.
The Jaffar Express was on the way of Quetta in the province of Southwestern Balochistan in Pakistan to Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa when it was fired, said railway functionaries, said
File image shows the Bolan Pass, the railway line where the hijacking reportedly took place
Pakistani security officers inspect vehicles at a checkpoint after the security was intensified after a suspected militant attack on a passenger train in Sibi
The group said it had taken 182 hostages from the train, including members of the Pakistani army and other safety officers traveling on leave.
“Civil passengers, especially women, children, the elderly and Baloch citizens, have been released safely and given a safe route,” said it in a statement emailed to journalists and posted on telegram.
“De Bla also warns that if the military intervention continues, all hostages will be performed.”
The train was en route from the capital Quetta from Balochistan to the city of Peshawar in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa when it was fired.
The domestic minister of Pakistan, Mohsin Naqvi, condemned the attack and said that the government would not make any concessions to “animals who shoot innocent passengers.”
The government of Balochistan has imposed emergency measures to tackle the situation, said spokesman Shahid Rind.
The Bla is the largest of different ethnic groups that fight against the government for decades and say that it unfairly operating the rich gas and mineral resources of Balochistan.
The conflict has seen frequent attacks on the government, the army and the Chinese interests in the region.
A spokesperson for the government of Balochistan said that the attack was an act of terrorism, and added that an investigation is going on.
Pakistani security position guard at a checkpoint after the security was intensified after a suspected militant attack on a passenger train in the province of Sibi, Balochistan
He added that an auxiliary train had been sent to the scene and that safety forces were working in the area.
A high police officer from the area said that “the train gets stuck just before a tunnel surrounded by Bergen.”
The area where the train is stopped is a mountainous region that makes militants easier to have hiding places and to plan attacks.
A state of emergency has been declared in the Sibi hospital and ambulances were sent to the scene, but have difficulty having access to it, according to officials.
The number of hostages could not be confirmed by railway or local government officials.
Trains in Balochistan usually have security staff on board, because separatists have previously made fatal attacks on trains and security forces in the region.
In November, a separatist group carried out a suicide attack at a train station in Quetta where 26 people were killed, including security staff, railway staff and passengers.
The Bla -Sparatist group has claimed the responsibility for the attack. Shown: bla fighters
A decades of old rebellion in Balochistan by separatist militant groups has led to frequent attacks on the government, the army and the Chinese interests in the region, so that requirements for a share are insisted in its resources.
The oil and mineral-rich Balochistan is the largest but also least populated province of Pakistan.
It is a hub for the ethnic Baloch -lessness of the country, whose members say they are confronted with discrimination and exploitation by the central government.
The Bla is the largest of various ethnic rebellious groups that have fought against the government of the South Asian nation for decades and say that it is unfairly operating the rich gas and mineral resources of Balochistan.
