Islamabad, Pakistan – Pakistan’s security forces are locked in what they describe as a “complex operation” against a group of separatists who attacked a train earlier on Tuesday. The train was traveling from Quetta, the provincial capital of the southwestern province of Balochistan, to Peshawar, the capital of the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Fighters belonging to the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), a separatist group seeking Balochistan’s secession from Pakistan, claimed responsibility for the attack.
They targeted the Jaffar Express as the train was passing through a series of tunnels near Sibi city, about 160km (100 miles) from Quetta.
While security sources have said that their military operation was under way, authorities also confirmed that a group of passengers safely made their way to a smaller station near the site of the attack.
Rana Farrukh, a Pakistan Railways official in Quetta, said that nearly 70 passengers, including women, children, and the elderly, reached the Panir railway station, approximately 6km (4 miles) from the attack site.
“They completed the journey on foot, following the railway track,” Farrukh told media, without providing further details about the passengers.
The train was passing the Bolan Pass area, which is a rugged, mountainous region, when it was attacked.
Here is what we know so far about the attack, the current situation and what is the background behind the decades-long conflict between separatist groups and the Pakistani state in Balochistan.
The train was carrying more than 400 passengers, including many women and children, as well as dozens of security personnel.
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