Pakistan militants attack train and take passengers hostage

Armed militants in Pakistan’s Balochistan region have attacked a train carrying hundreds of passengers and taken a number of hostages, military sources have told the BBC.

The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) fired at the Jaffar Express Train as it travelled from Quetta to Peshawar.

A statement from the separatist group said it had bombed the track before storming the train in remote Sibi district. It claimed the train was under its control.

Pakistani police told local reporters at least three people, including the train driver, had been injured in the attack.

Police say security forces have been sent to the scene of the attack. A medical emergency has been declared at government hospitals in the area.

A senior police official from the area bordering Sibi said “the train remains stuck just before a tunnel surrounded by mountains”, AFP news agency reports. There had been reports of “intense firing” at the train, a Balochistan government spokesman told local newspaper Dawn.

Local journalists in Quetta told the BBC that they have seen dozens of ambulances heading towards the scene, while helicopters are hovering in the sky.

The Baloch Liberation Army has warned of “severe consequences” if an attempt is made to rescue those it is holding.

It has waged a decades-long insurgency to gain independence and has launched numerous deadly attacks, often targeting police stations, railway lines and highways.

Quetta’s railway controller Muhammad Kashif told the BBC that 400-450 passengers had been booked on the train.

Railway officials in Quetta, quoting paramilitary sources, told the BBC that women and children had disembarked from the train and were walking towards the city of Sibi. They did not have an exact number.

Meanwhile families of passengers are trying to get information from the counter at Quetta railway station.

The son of one passenger, Muhammad Ashraf, who left Quetta for Lahore on Tuesday morning, told BBC Urdu he had not been able to contact his father. Officials say they are yet to communicate with anyone on the train.

The area has no internet and mobile network coverage, officials told the BBC.

Balochistan is Pakistan’s largest province and the richest in terms of natural resources, but it is the least developed.

Additional reporting by Usman Zahid and BBC Urdu