21 passengers, 4 soldiers, 33 militants killed as Pak army ends hijack op

Twenty-one passengers and four paramilitary soldiers were killed by militants holding hostages after seizing control of a train in Balochistan, an army general said on Wednesday.

Army spokesman Lt Gen Ahmad Sharif told Dunya News TV that security forces killed all 33 militants present at the scene. 

"The armed forces successfully concluded the operation in the (Wednesday) evening by killing all terrorists and rescuing all passengers safely, Lt Gen Sharif said.

He said that 21 passengers were killed by the terrorists when they attacked the train on Tuesday. He added that four paramilitary Frontier Corps soldiers were also killed in the incident.

"The forces killed all 33 terrorists and secured the release of hostages, he said.

The Jaffar Express, carrying some 400 passengers in nine coaches, was going from Quetta to Peshawar when militants derailed it using explosives and hijacked it near the mountainous terrain of Gudalar and Piru Kunri in a tunnel 160 kilometres from Quetta.

The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for the attack on Tuesday when they said they killed six soldiers.