Baloch Separatists Attack Peshawar-Bound Train, Take Hostages:

Militants from Balochistan opened fire on a train headed towards Peshawar that was carrying approximately four hundred individuals. The militant group has also reportedly captured every single hostage, even those from the Pakistani army. First drafts also indicate that security guards have been killed during the incident.

The Baloch Liberation Army, which is the most well-known of the separatist groups in the region, claimed responsibility and said that the Jaffar Express attack happened in Mushkaaf, a region in the Bolan mountain range of Balochistan. They roughly reported that six army men lost their lives during the skirmish.

They have elaborated and explained to News18 that the Baloch couldn't force their claim other than any attack in their control. The Pakistani security establishment issued a strong disclaimer against peacekeeping threats for fifteen minutes while claiming all hostages will die claiming intervention means being passive.

“The Baloch Liberation Army has undertaken a uniquely structured operation in the region of Mashkaf, Dhadar, Bolan. In this operation, our freedom fighters have sabotaged the railway track, which led the Jaffar Express to come to a standstill. The occupation of the train was subsequently fulfilled by the fighters with all the passengers onboard being taken captive," he stated.

The seperatist insurgency of Balochistan has stretched for years, and it remains one of the most fundamental issues within the region. The rebels claim that the local government is continously exploiting the area by extracting its resources and putting the resident population in a state of poverty.

The resistance group Balochultras argue that security agents systematically capture, and mutilate individuals self-identifying as Baloch, claims that found allies among the human right defenders. And security and public figures who represent the state, sharply dismiss all claims of breaching fundamental rights. In their opinion, they are improving the province's economy through different initiatives, one of them being the Putian'Tor multi billion dollar development project funded by China.