Security forces on Tuesday liquidated 16 terrorists in a clearance operation launched after an unknown number of heavily armed terrorists stormed a Peshawar-bound train in Balochistan's Bolan district and took hundreds of passengers, including women and children, hostage in a brazen attack which, according to security sources, was orchestrated by their "overseas" handlers.
Jaffar Express, with over 400 passengers on board in nine bogies, was on its way from Quetta to Peshawar when it came under attack in the Dhadar area of Bolan Pass, according to security sources.
The volatile province has been caught up in a deadly spiral of separatist violence stoked by hostile agencies working to destabilise it for their geostrategic objectives.
So far, 104 passengers have been rescued, said the security sources, adding, among those rescued were 58 men, 31 women and 15 children.
Moreover, 17 injured individuals had been shifted to hospitals, the security sources said and added that heavy gunfire was ongoing with the gunmen.
The terrorists were in contact with their overseas handlers via satellite phone, the security sources noted and said they have encircled the terrorists by dividing them into small teams.
It all started after armed gunmen forced the train to a halt in a remote, mountainous area of the province on Tuesday afternoon, with the assault immediately claimed by the banned Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), a terrorist group behind rising violence in the province.
The attackers bombed the railway track before storming aboard the train, said the security forces.
The locomotive was stopped just before a tunnel, and terrorists took control of the train in a remote, mountainous area of the province.
"Efforts are ongoing to ensure the safe release of the remaining passengers. The terrorists have been surrounded, and the operation will continue until the last terrorist is neutralised," AFP quoted the security sources as saying. However, due to the challenging mountainous terrain, the operation is progressing cautiously, they added.
A nearby railway station in Mach has been turned into a makeshift hospital to receive some of the wounded.
The driver of the train, a police officer and soldier were all martyred in the assault, according to paramedic Nazim Farooq and railway official Muhammad Aslam, both at Mach railway station.
Earlier in the day, Muhammad Kashif, a senior railway government official in Quetta, told AFP that "over 450 passengers onboard are being held hostage by gunmen."
A district senior police officer, Rana Dilawar, said helicopters and special forces had been deployed.
The incident has raised concerns over the security of the railway routes passing through remote areas of the province. Officials have, however, assured the public that measures are being taken to prevent such attacks in the future.
In November last year, at least 26 people, including 16 security personnel, lost their lives and 61 others were injured in a suicide bombing at a Quetta railway station.
The bomber had detonated the explosive on the platform where large crowds were awaiting Jaffar Express.
(WITH ADDITIONAL INPUT FROM OUR RAWALPINDI CORRESPONDENT AND AGENCIES)
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