The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) on Thursday denied the Pakistani military's claim that the force killed all Baloch insurgents who hijacked the Jaffar Express and held over 400 passengers as hostages in the restive Balochistan province. The insurgents claimed that intense fighting was continuing and Pakistani forces were suffering heavy losses.
"The ground reality is that the battle continues on multiple fronts, and the enemy (Pakistani military) is suffering heavy casualties and military losses," the BLA said in a statement.
"The occupying army has neither achieved victory on the battlefield nor managed to save its hostage personnel," the outfit, which is fighting for the independence of Balochistan from Pakistan, said.
On Tuesday, the insurgents opened fire on the Peshawar-bound Jaffar Express, carrying 425 passengers in nine bogies, while it was passing through the Mashkaf tunnel near the mountainous terrain of Gudalar and Piru Kunri. The train was coming from Quetta, the capital of Balochistan.
A Pakistani Army spokesperson on Wednesday announced that the operation to rescue hostages from a train hijacked by the Baloch insurgents had ended and all 33 militants present at the scene were killed. The spokesperson also said that 21 passengers and four Pakistani Army personnel had died during the security operation.
“The armed forces successfully concluded the operation on (Wednesday) evening by killing all terrorists and rescuing all passengers safely,” Lt. Gen Ahmad Sharif Chaudhry said.
“Today we freed a large number of people, including women and children The final operation was carried out with great care,” he said, adding 440 people had been on board and security forces had cleared the train "bogey to bogey".
The BLA accused the Pakistani Army of misleading the people through propaganda. It claimed that soldiers who were "rescued" had actually been released by the BLA in accordance with its war ethics and international norms.
The group also claimed that after failing to defeat its fighters in combat, the Pakistani military had begun targeting Baloch civilians.
It also said it had proposed a prisoner exchange, but claimed Pakistan refused to negotiate and abandoned its soldiers. "Now that the state has abandoned its hostages to die, it will also bear responsibility for their deaths," it added.
The BLA called on Pakistan to allow independent journalists to visit conflict zones to verify its claims of victory. "If the occupying army truly claims victory, then it should allow independent journalists and impartial sources access to the war-torn areas so that the world can witness the real losses suffered by the Pakistani army," it said.
The outfit claimed the war had escalated beyond the Pakistani state's control and that the BLA was determined to continue fighting "until it achieved its objectives".
Source: India Today