Gunmen hold 450 hostages on a train in Pakistan

On Tuesday, gunmen held more than 450 passengers, including women and children, hostage on a train in Balochistan, southwestern Pakistan, after injuring its driver, according to officials speaking to AFP.

Mohammad Kashif, an official in Balochistan Railways, stated, "More than 450 passengers, including women and children, were taken hostage by gunmen."

Local officials and police confirmed the attack, which was claimed by the Balochistan Liberation Army, the main separatist group in this region bordering Iran and Afghanistan.

A senior official in the city of Sibi, where the train was intercepted, said, "Gunmen forced the Jaffar Express train to stop, held the passengers hostage, and injured the driver."

The Balochistan Liberation Army, in a statement, said it "destroyed the railway line with explosives, forcing the Jaffar Express train to stop."

A senior police official noted that the train "was intercepted at the entrance of a tunnel in the mountains," while Sibi Hospital was placed on alert, according to the same source.

The Balochistan Liberation Army regularly claims responsibility for deadly attacks on security forces and Pakistanis from other provinces, accusing them, along with foreign investors, of exploiting the region's rich resources without benefiting the local population.

The region is considered rich in hydrocarbons and minerals, but its residents complain of marginalization and deprivation of these natural resources, making it the poorest area in Pakistan.

In August, Balochistan Liberation Army fighters killed 39 people, mostly after checking travelers' identity cards on various roads and shooting them if they were from Punjab, who are seen as dominating the army engaged in the fight against separatists.

Pakistan has seen an increase in attacks, particularly by Islamists and separatists, especially in Balochistan and the neighboring Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, also bordering Afghanistan.

Estimates from the Islamabad-based Center for Research and Security Studies indicate that 2024 was the deadliest year in nearly a decade, with more than 1,600 people killed in scattered attacks, including 685 security personnel.