Pakistan train hijack LIVE updates: Police say armed men have taken 35 passengers hostage

According to the local police, the militants took 35 train passengers. The police further claims that nearly 350 passengers were believed to be safe. 

-Reuters

Officials in Pakistan say separatists have attacked a train, and the fate of hundreds on board is not clear.

-AP

A provincial government statement says that an emergency has been imposed at Sibi hospital, and ambulances and security forces were on their way to the site.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi condemned the incident, saying: “The beasts who fire on innocent passengers do not deserve any concessions.” 

In the past, the railway tracks in this area have been attacked by Baloch militants using rockets or remote-controlled bombs, and the BLA claimed responsibility for most of the attacks.”

-PTI

More than 1,600 people were killed in attacks in Pakistan in 2024 – the deadliest year in almost a decade – according to the Center for Research and Security Studies, an Islamabad-based analysis group.

BLA militants killed seven Punjabi travellers in February after they were ordered off a bus.

At least 39 people were killed in coordinated attacks last year that largely targeted ethnic Punjabis.

In November, the BLA claimed responsibility for a bombing at Quetta’s main railway station that killed 26 people, including 14 soldiers.

-AFP

The attack occurred in the Bolan district as the train was traveling from the provincial capital of Quetta to the northern city of Peshawar, said government spokesman Shahid Rind.

After the driver was wounded, the train came to a stop in a deserted area, Rind said and added that reinforcements were heading to Bolan to respond to the attack. He had no further details and the situation with the train and its passengers was not immediately clear.

“The passengers are being held hostage, and the driver has been injured.”

The train had left Quetta for Peshawar, in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa – a more than 30-hour journey – at around 9.00 a.m..

An emergency has been imposed at hospitals in Sibi, according to the government official.

-AFP and AP

The government in Pakistan’s Balochistan province directs local authorities to take “emergency measures”. 

Controller Railways Muhammad Kashif says the train, comprising nine coaches, had around 500 passengers on board.

“The train was stopped by armed men in Tunnel No 8. Efforts are being made to contact the passengers and staff,” says the controller.

A provincial government statement said an emergency was imposed at Sibi hospital and ambulances and security forces were on their way to the site.

-PTI