'They chose people and shot them down': Passengers recall Pak train horror

Survivors of the attack described the terrifying moments when gunmen stormed the train, checking identity cards and targeting soldiers while letting some families go

 

“They asked us to come outside, saying we will not be harmed. When around 185 people came outside, they chose people and shot them down,” said Muhammad Naveed, a survivor of the Jaffar Express in Pakistan, which was hijacked by militants belonging to separatist outfit Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA). Naveed was among the 440 passengers in the train when it was hijacked on its way to Peshawar from Quetta.

 

“They asked us to come out of the train one by one. They separated women and asked them to leave. They also spared the elders," said Naveed, as quoted by news agency AFP. Another survivor, Babar Masih, said he and his family escaped through the mountains before finding help. 

 

 

“Our women pleaded with them, and they spared us,” Masih said. “They told us to get out and not look back. As we ran, I noticed many others running alongside us,” he added.

 

Noman Ahmed, a steelworker returning home for Eid, described how he and others hid inside the train after hearing an explosion. “When we heard the blast, we dropped to the floor and locked the carriage door, hoping to escape the gunfire,” he told The New York Times. 

 

Ahmed said militants forced passengers out and executed those who remained inside. “They ordered them to come out. When they didn’t, the gunmen went in and shot them all,” he said.

 

Muhammad Naveed, Babar Masih, and Noman Ahmed were among the fortunates. According to reports in Pakistani media, at least 21 hostages were killed by the separatists.

  WATCH: Moments Baloch separatists hijacked Jaffar Express in Pakistan

 

Why did Baloch militants hijack Jaffar Express?

 

The BLA separatists hijacked the Jaffar Express to demand the release of Baloch political prisoners and to protest against what they perceive as the exploitation and occupation of Balochistan by the Pakistani state. The group warned that hostages’ lives were at risk if the government refused to negotiate.

 

Pakistan’s Information Minister, Attaullah Tarar, confirmed that the BLA was behind the attack. He said the military operation “has successfully reached its logical conclusion” and praised the army for “averting a potential catastrophe”. The Chief Minister of Balochistan, Sarfraz Bugti, told a provincial assembly that troops had killed all the insurgents involved, AFP reported. 

 

 

 

Balochistan, Pakistan's largest yet least populated province, is rich in natural resources. The Baloch minority claims discrimination by the government and fights for autonomy or independence.

 

[With inputs from agencies]