Pakistan train siege: Two-day rescue ends, at least 25 bodies retrieved

AT LEAST 25 bodies, including those of 21 hostages, were retrieved on Thursday following a deadly train siege by separatist gunmen in Pakistan, officials said. The retrieval came ahead of the first funerals for those killed in the attack.

Security forces said they rescued more than 340 passengers after a two-day operation that ended late on Wednesday.

The attackers had bombed a remote railway track in Balochistan’s mountainous region before storming a train carrying around 450 passengers.

The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), a separatist group, claimed responsibility for the assault. The group is one of several that accuse outsiders of exploiting Balochistan’s natural resources in the region near the borders of Afghanistan and Iran.

Conflicting death tolls have emerged from the incident. The military said in an official statement that the attackers killed "21 innocent hostages," while four soldiers died in the rescue operation.

A railway official in Balochistan said 25 bodies were transported by train from the hostage site to Mach town on Thursday morning.

"Deceased were identified as 19 military passengers, one police and one railway official, while four bodies are yet to be identified," the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP.

A senior military official overseeing operations confirmed these details.

An army official, also speaking anonymously, earlier said the military death toll was 28, including 27 off-duty soldiers taken hostage.

Passengers who escaped described walking for hours through the mountains to reach safety, saying they witnessed people being shot dead by militants.

The first funerals were expected to take place on Thursday. Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif was also set to visit Balochistan, his office said.

"The prime minister expressed grief and sorrow over the martyrdom of security personnel and train passengers during the operation," his office stated.

'Our women pleaded'

The BLA released a video showing an explosion on the railway track, followed by militants emerging from the mountains to attack the train.

Attacks by separatist groups have increased in recent years, mainly targeting security forces and ethnic groups from outside the province.

Muhammad Naveed, one of the survivors, told AFP: "They asked us to come out of the train one by one. They separated women and asked them to leave. They also spared elders."

"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."

Babar Masih, a 38-year-old Christian labourer, told AFP that he and his family walked for hours to reach a train that could take them to a makeshift hospital.

"Our women pleaded with them and they spared us," he said.

"They told us to get out and not look back. As we ran, I noticed many others running alongside us."

Security forces have been fighting a decades-long insurgency in Balochistan. The province saw a rise in violence last year compared with 2023, according to the independent Center for Research and Security Studies.

(With inputs from AFP)