Attack on Jaffer Express

[Reichmarshal]

Prob in baluchistan :
50% Frontier Corps. Baluchistan
40% baluch politicians
10% federal n all others

 

[RescueRanger]

No doubt. I expect it to happen.

 

[r3alist]

This story is covered very heavily in..... Indian media

 

[RescueRanger]

This story is covered very heavily in..... Indian media

Ofc it was, funny don't you think? They were gushing over it.

 

[RescueRanger]

 

[Dalit]

This story is covered very heavily in..... Indian media

Of course they are. They are feasting, but this should be a defining moment. I hope the armed forces have learnt something here and we correct the mistakes.

 

[Bilal]

It shall not stop here. No complacency or patting the back. Now clean up the snake pit and drain the swamp.

 

[RescueRanger]

It shall not stop here. No complacency or petting the back. Now clean up the snake pit and drain the swamp.

My back petting is always reserved for the sepoy who sweats and bleeds for the nation. And yes concrete action is required.

 

[Jango007]

If all the hostages are released and only 21 died then I must say it must have been an amazingly coordinated and brilliently executed mission.

 

[r3alist]

Ofc it was, funny don't you think? They were gushing over it.

Not only that, the extent to which the Indian media is amplifying the doomsday narrative therefore encouraging the indian populace to do the same ......seems purposeful

this is not covered heavily in the western Media

 

[Bilal]

My back petting is always reserved for the sepoy who sweats and bleeds for the nation. And yes concrete action is required.

They deserve it. I am talking about the usual suspects. Jo har incident ke baadh moun pe kambal daal ke so jatay hien…

 

[RescueRanger]

Not only that, the extent to which the Indian media is amplifying the doomsday narrative therefore encouraging the indian populace to do the same ......seems purposeful

this is not covered heavily in the western Media

But you still have some who fail to have the scales lifted from their eyes. Forget India and other foreign accounts, I was really disappointed by some of the propaganda and dirt being thrown on Pakistan by certain Pakistani accounts on SM.

 

[ghazi52]

Jaffar Express operation complete, 33 terrorists killed: DG ISPR​

Dawn.com | Abdullah Zehri | Tahir Khan
March 12, 2025

Passengers, who were rescued from a train after it was attacked by terrorists, sit at the Mach Railway Station in Mach, Balochistan, on March 11, 2025. — Reuters/Stringer

Director General Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, speaking during a press conference on Monday, Aug 5, 2024. — DawnNews TV

A soldier stands guard at a railway station in the Sibi district of Balochistan on March 12, during a security operation against terrorists a day after they hijacked a passenger train. — AFP

A train carrying empty coffins to the siege site, stands at a railway station in Quetta on March 12. — AFP

A paramilitary soldier stands guard at a railway station in the Sibi district of southwestern Balochistan province on March 12 during a security operation against militants a day after they hijacked a passenger train. — AFP

A soldier (L) works to evacuate freed train passengers at the Mach railway station, which has been turned into a makeshift hospital, after Pakistani security forces freed nearly 80 passengers following a security operation against armed militants who ambushed the train in the remote mountainous area, in Mach on March 11, 2025. — AFP

The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said on Wednesday that the clearance operation — launched a day earlier after the unprecedented hijacking of Jaffar Express in Balochistan — has been completed. He added that all terrorists, 33 in total, at the site of the attack had been killed.

“On March 11 in Bolan, terrorists targeted a railroad track around 1pm and blew it up and stopped the Jaffer Express. According to railway officials, the train had 440 passengers,” he said while speaking to news anchor Kamran Shahid on Dunya News show ‘On the Front.’

Providing details of the operation, Lt Gen Chaudhry said the area where the incident took place was difficult to approach as it was far away from civilisation and road networks.

“The terrorists used hostages, including women and children, as human shields. The recovery operation was immediately started,” he added.

Chaudhry said the army, air force, Frontier Corps and SSG personnel had taken part and recovered the hostages.

“These terrorists were in contact with their supporters and masterminds in Afghanistan during the operation via satellite phone. You saw that around 100 passengers were safely rescued yesterday evening from the terrorists, and today as well, a large number of passengers have been recovered,” he said, adding that the process continued intermittently.

Elaborating on the details of the “final clearance operation” today, he said: “All hostage passengers were recovered. This operation was conducted with great skill and care since terrorists were using them as human shields.”

Questioned whether he was confirming the operation’s end with all terrorists killed, the DG ISPR said: “Yes, all present terrorists there have been sent to hell and their total number was 33.”

He added that no passenger was hurt in the final clearance operation, but before that, “the number of passengers who fell victim to the barbarism of the terrorists is 21.”

Chaudhry further told the news channel that three FC personnel stationed on the railway picket were martyred, while one FC soldier was martyred during yesterday’s operation.

The chief of the military’s media wing added that the bomb disposal squad was conducting further clearance and inspecting the train and the surrounding area as per standard operating procedures.

Chaudhry said the passengers held hostage, who had fled to the surrounding area during the operation, were also being gathered.

“No one can be permitted to make innocent people of Pakistan the victim of their barbarism in the streets, trains, buses or markets because of their misleading ideas and instructions and facilitation of foreign masters.

“Whoever does this, let me say it very clearly, will be hunted down and brought to justice. Let me also say that this incident of Jaffer Express changes the rules of the game.”

He said the terrorists had nothing to do with Islam, Pakistan and Balochistan.

 

[ghazi52]

Details of the operation​

Presenting a monochromatic visual footage of the incident, he pointed to three black blots or blobs on the screen and said they were the groups of passengers the terrorists had gathered.

“Suicide bombers were sitting amid the passengers’ groups, as well as next to them,” he said, adding that it was the reason for the “slow and careful” progress of the military.

He said the operation commanders had first taken out these suicide bombers in today’s exercise, following which the passengers fled to nearby areas.

After this, Chaudhry said the operation party entered the train and proceeded to take out the suicide bombers aboard and began clearing it out bogey by bogey.

The DG ISPR criticised the flow of misinformation online and on social media amid the incident, particularly from India, saying that this openly displayed the “nexus between the terrorists and their masters to the whole world.”

“Interestingly, some specific political elements in Pakistan also partake in such activities enthusiastically and activate their social media [teams], and instead of standing with the state, they can be seen creating baseless justifications and reasons for this horrible terrorist act,” he said.

“Sadly, some elements are sacrificing the national interest due to their lust for political power,” he said.

However, Chaudhry asserted that the discerning nation was not only observing and understanding the unfolding events but also recognising the forces driving “this anarchic politics”.

Questioned about criticism of security agencies for misfocused priorities, the DG ISPR said law enforcement and intelligence agencies were carrying out over 160 operations daily against terrorism.

 

[ghazi52]

Freed hostages​

Earlier on Wednesday, state media — citing security officials — had said that at least 190 passengers had been freed after terrorists hijacked the Jaffar Express near Balochistan’s Bolan district. It reported that casualties were being determined.

The unprecedented hostage situation began on Tuesday near the Mashkaf Tunnel, about 157 kilometres from Quetta, when terrorists attacked the Jaffar Express and took more than 400 passengers hostage, including numerous security personnel.

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Key developments

• Train carrying around 450 people, including security personnel, hijacked; BLA claims responsibility
• 70 to 80 terrorists were involved in the incident, according to interior ministry
• 190 passengers; including 37 injured, rescued; 57 of rescued passengers shifted to the provincial capital
• Help desk and emergency cell set up for families of travellers -PM Shehbaz says he’s in touch with CM Bugti, condemns attack
• Condemnations pour in from US, China, UN, Iran, and Germany

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According to Radio Pakistan, of the rescued passengers, 37 were injured and had been sent for medical treatment.

There was no confirmation of the total number of casualties, but officials said that at least 30 people — including the driver of the locomotive and eight security personnel — had lost their lives as the forces engaged in a gun battle.

It was not immediately clear whether these people had been freed as the result of kinetic military action or were among those allegedly freed by the armed assailants.

The hijacking was a first-of-its-kind event, as terrorists had never attempted to attack or take an entire train and its occupants hostage earlier.

The banned Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for the attack and claimed to have taken a large number of people hostage. The group also claimed that they had freed several people — including women and children — but these reports could not be independently verified.