Pakistan says 155 hostages have been rescued but 300 more are on the train seized by Balochistan Liberation Army.
Pakistani security forces said they have rescued 155 passengers from a train hijacked by separatist forces, as operations to free hundreds more continue.
The military launched a major operation on Wednesday against the separatists from the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) that seized the train the previous day. About 300 hostages remain on board, officials said.
The train, which was carrying about 450 passengers, including army personnel, was attacked as it travelled through the remote southwest region of Balochistan, for which the BLA seeks independence from Islamabad.
Security forces were acting with caution, with captives surrounded by BLA fighters wearing explosive vests. At least 27 of the rebels have been killed, officials added.
The number of casualties among soldiers, passengers and rebel fighters remains unclear.
The BLA has claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was open to negotiations to swap prisoners. It also threatened on Tuesday to start executing hostages unless Baloch political prisoners, activists and missing persons it said had been abducted by the military were not released within 48 hours.
So far, there has been no response from the government to the offer or the threat.
President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif have strongly denounced the attack. Government spokesman Shahid Rind described it as “an act of terrorism”.
Balochistan’s contested terrain
BLA fighters blew up the railway track and opened fire on the train in the remote Sibi district as it travelled from Quetta, Balochistan’s capital city, to Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Oil and mineral-rich Balochistan is Pakistan’s largest and least populated province. It is a hub for the country’s ethnic Baloch minority, whose members say they face discrimination from the central government.
The BLA claim that the region’s natural resources are being exploited by outsiders and have increased attacks targeting Pakistanis, as well as from other regions.
Violence has surged along the region’s western border with Afghanistan since the Taliban reclaimed power in 2021.
The BLA has carried out deadly attacks on trains and buses. In November, a separatist group carried out a suicide bombing at a train station in Quetta that killed 26 people.
In February, BLA fighters killed seven Punjabi travellers after they were ordered off a bus.
Chinese-backed infrastructure and citizens around the Arabian Sea have also been targeted.
Pakistan and the United States have designated the BLA, estimated to boast about 3,000 fighters, as a terrorist organisation.