All the train passengers held hostage by rebels in southwestern Pakistan have been released, an army official informed AFP on Wednesday. The official also reported that 28 soldiers were killed during the siege.
"346 hostages were freed, and over 30 terrorists were killed during the operation," the army official told AFP. He added that 27 off-duty soldiers, who were passengers on the train, were killed by the militants, and one soldier lost his life during the rescue operation.
The incident occurred on Tuesday afternoon when a rebel group seized the train in a remote frontier district of Balochistan province. The train was carrying more than 450 passengers at the time.
The attack was promptly claimed by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), which released a video showing an explosion on the railway tracks. In the video, dozens of armed militants can be seen emerging from hiding spots in the mountains and storming the train carriages.
The BLA has carried out a series of recent attacks targeting security forces and ethnic groups from outside the province, accusing them of exploiting the region’s resources.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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