Pakistan army on Friday said that 18 of the 26 hostages killed by Balochistan Liberation Army militants, who ambushed a train in Balochistan, were army and paramilitary soldiers.
Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Lieutenant Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, during a press conference with Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfaraz Bugti, said 26 hostages were killed by the terrorists before the start of the army operation.
“The 26 hostages include 18 army and paramilitary soldiers, three other government officials and five civilians,” he said.
He also said that five paramilitary soldiers of Frontier Corps were killed during the operation, including four Frontier Corps personnel killed by terrorists when they attacked the train.
The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) terrorists ambushed the Jaffar Express carrying over 400 passengers on Tuesday in Bolan area of Balochistan and held the passengers hostage, prompting the security forces to initiate an operation that lasted until the next day evening.
Security forces stormed the hijacked train on Wednesday, bringing a dramatic end to a 30-hour siege, killing all 33 terrorists, while successfully rescuing more than 300 passengers.
The army spokesman said that a total of 354 hostages were rescued, including 37 injured passengers.
Chaudhry once again accused India of creating disturbance in the province. “The main sponsor of terrorism in Pakistan is our eastern neighbour,” he said.
The Pakistan army spokesperson also showed a purported video of former Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav allegedly confessing the involvement of India’s spy agency RAW in terrorist activities in Balochistan.
He shared statements by some Indian leaders and officials, including National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, regarding militancy and then commented “the Jaffar train attack was a part of the same plan”.
Earlier in the day, India trashed Pakistan’s allegations of backing terrorism against that country and said Islamabad should look inwards before shifting the blame on others for its “failures”.
India also said the whole world knows “where the epicentre of global terrorism lies”.
The spokesperson also said that the linkage of this train attack can be traced to Afghanistan and also showed a clip featuring Afghan terrorists killed in Pakistan in various operations.
Chief Minister Bugti, talking about the discrepancy in the number of passengers who boarded the train and those rescued, said that 425 tickets were issued by the railways but all of them may not have boarded from the station while some might have been expected to board from other stations.
He also said that it was expected that some passengers might have fled the scene when terrorists were being killed and they might come back in the next few days. He also said two passengers, who were hiding, came back yesterday.
The army spokesman said that Pakistan’s security forces were carrying out about 180 intelligence-led operations per day to eliminate the threat of terrorism.
He said that 59,775 operations were conducted in 2024 and another 11,654 operations have been conducted so far in 2025.
He said that “so far, 1,250 militants have been killed in 2024 and 20225, while 563 soldiers died in this period”.
Talking about the spike in terrorism in recent years, he said that the main reason was Afghanistan where the militants were getting space and banned outfits like Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) was getting support, training and manpower, and the rebels were being helped by the weapons left by US forces after withdrawal.
“But the enemies of Pakistan do not want peace and progress in Pakistan and use militants as proxies to achieve this objective,” he said.
Giving details of the army operation, he showed through maps that the terrain was very difficult to reach. The terrorists blasted the track and killed four Frontier Corps soldiers deployed at a picket. He also said that the terrorists were in contact with handlers in Afghanistan during the entire operation.
He said that operation was planned with care due to presence of suicide bombers. “Not a single casualty happened during the entire operation,” he said.
“I can tell you that this can be considered as the most successful operation in train hijacking which was completed in 36 hours,” he said.
Bugti in his remarks appreciated the security forces for swift action and also thanked the international community for supporting Pakistan in the wake of the train terrorist attack.
He said that the policy of appeasement and ambiguity in Pakistan should end. “Violence should be treated as violence and Baloch terrorists are hand in glove with TTP,” he said. He said reforms would be carried out in Balochistan to improve the governance.