In a recent development, Pakistan’s military has accused India of supporting the insurgents responsible for a deadly attack in Balochistan earlier this week that resulted in 26 fatalities aboard a hijacked train. Survivors shared recounts of their traumatic experiences during what was an unprecedented, brutal assault by armed separatists.
The attack took place in the volatile Balochistan province, highlighting Pakistan’s ongoing struggle to curb militant violence, which has been ticking upward in recent years. Pakistan has previously blamed India and Afghanistan for such attacks, though no solid evidence supporting these claims was presented in this instance. India swiftly dismissed these accusations.
The violent event unfolded on Tuesday when members of the banned Baloch Liberation Army ambushed a train in a remote area, seizing around 400 passengers. This led to a tense standoff with security forces that concluded late Wednesday after the military reported that 33 of the hijackers had been neutralized.
Balochistan, rich in both oil and minerals, remains Pakistan’s largest province by area but is sparsely populated. Ethnic Baloch inhabitants have long complained of systemic discrimination by the central government, accusations that Islamabad contests.
The international community, including the U.S., China, Turkey, Iran, and the U.K., has responded with widespread condemnation. The U.N. Security Council issued a statement denouncing the “heinous and cowardly terrorist attack” and calling for the prosecution of those responsible.
During a media briefing in Islamabad, military spokesperson Lt. Gen. Ahmad Sharif accused India of sponsoring the attack. He did not provide any evidence for these assertions. This incident marks a first for the Baloch Liberation Army in terms of hijacking a train, though they have been responsible for attacks on trains previously. Several of the attackers escaped, prompting an ongoing search operation.
Sarfraz Bugti, Balochistan’s chief minister, stated that Pakistan possessed concrete evidence of India’s involvement but refrained from offering specifics. General Sharif referenced an Indian naval officer, arrested in 2016 for espionage, claiming he had aided Baloch separatists, although he did not connect this directly to the train hijacking.
Given the fraught history between nuclear-armed adversaries Pakistan and India, which have fought three wars since their 1947 independence, India’s foreign ministry firmly rejected these allegations as groundless. Previously, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry claimed the attack was orchestrated from Afghanistan, a theory Kabul has denied.
Pakistan asserted the attackers communicated with operators in Afghanistan, possessing weapons from both India and Afghanistan, although these claims remain unverified.
In response to the attack, Pakistan has halted all railway services to and from Balochistan. Railway official Sharif Ullah mentioned that track repairs, damaged during the incident, are yet to commence.
Survivors continue to share horrifying details of the 36-hour ordeal. Muhammad Farooq, a Quetta resident, described insurgents’ ruthless selection of victims based on their affiliations with the armed forces. Another survivor, Mohammad Tanveer, recounted being injured but escaping amid the attackers’ gunfire. Nair Husnain, a college student, witnessed militants systematically executing soldiers and civilians, sparing only the ethnic Balochs.
Husnain’s testimony included witnessing a harrowing scene where a mother saw her three soldier sons gunned down. “Those scenes are still before my eyes,” he lamented.
