Pakistan Train Hijack Latest Updates: Pak Army launches mega op, rescues over 155 hostages amid new warning by Baloch Liberation Army

Bystanders help to evacuate an injured passenger on a stretcher at the Mach railway station, which has been turned into a makeshift hospital, after Pakistani security forces freed over 100 passengers following a security operation against armed militants who ambushed the train in the remote mountainous area, in Mach, southwestern Balochistan province on March 11, 2025. (AFP)

Pakistan Train Hijack Latest Updates: Pakistan Train Hijack Latest Updates: Over 104 hostages have been freed by the Pakistani security personnel a day after Baloch Liberation Army hijacked a train inside a tunnel on Tuesday.

While BLA claims that it has killed 30 security personnel, official statement by Pakistan Army say that they have gunned down 16 militants. The Baloch Liberation Army has given a 48-hour ultimatum to Pakistan Army. It claims that around 200 hostages are still in its captivity. Local reports suggest that the militants have taken some of the hostages into the nearby mountains.

Among those who have been rescued so far include 31 women, 58 men and 15 children. A PTI report says that the freed hostages have been sent to Mach, another town in Balochistan, on another train.

Meanwhile, an AFP report says that the Pakistan security forces are preparing to launch a "full-scale operation" to free the hostages. The militants stormed the train after bombing a section of the railway track in the restive region of Pakistan on Tuesday afternoon. The driver of the train is among those who were killed in the intense gunfight.

Furthermore, the Baloch Liberation Army has also issued a fresh warning saying that it will execute all hostages in case the security forces launch any operation.

The Jaffar Express was heading to the city of Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province from Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province, with 425 people on board when it was attacked. The passengers included personnel from the Pakistani army and other security forces who were travelling on leave. Ethnic armed group Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), which has claimed responsibility for the attack, has demanded the release of Baloch political prisoners, activists, and missing persons who it says were abducted by the military, within 48 hours.

(With agency inputs)