Jaffar Express operation complete, hostages rescued: DG ISPR

Islamabad web desk …The Pakistan Army announced on Wednesday that the Jaffar Express hostage-rescue operation was completed successfully and all attackers present at the site were killed by security forces and hostages freed.

Speaking to a private news channel, Director General Inter-Services Public Relations Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry confirmed the completion of the complex operation, elaborating that units from the Pakistan Air Force (PAF), Special Services Group (SSG), army and Frontier Corps (FC) took part.

Dozens of militants, affiliated with the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), blew up a railway track and assaulted the Jaffar Express on Tuesday, carrying more than 400 passengers, authorities ssaid

“All 33 terrorists have been sent to hell…no harm caused to any passener during the clearance operation,” the DG ISPR said. However, he added, before the clearance operation, 21 passengers were martyred by the terrorists.

Divulging details of the incident, Lt Gen Chaudhry said the terrorists targeted a railway track in Bolan on March 11, stopped Jaffar Express and took passengers hostage. “The militants used hostages, including women and children, as human shields,” he added.

Furthermore, he said that the attackers had placed the hostages in groups with suicide bombers sitting amongst them. “The suicide bombers were taken out by security forces snipers,” he added.

“The terrorists remained in contact with their facilitators and mastermind based in Afghanistan via satellite phone during the clearance operation,” he revealed.

“Around 100 passengers were safely rescued yesterday evening from the terrorists, and today as well, a large number of passengers have been recovered,” he added.

He noted that all terrorists present on the site of the incident were killed, however, the clearance of train and area were being carried out by bomb disposal squad as per the standard operating procedure.

Besides this, Lt Gen Chaudhry said held hostages who fled to nearby areas during clearance operation were being gathered as well.

Elaborating on the final clearance operation that was conducted earlier today, the ISPR chief said the armed forces cleared the all boogies one by one and “sent 33 terrorists to hell”.

“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 ideology,” he added,

“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.”

The military spokesperson noted that the incident of Jaffer Express has changed the rules of the game. “Whoever did this will be hunted down and brought to justice,” he added. He added the terrorists had nothing to do with Islam, Pakistan and Balochistan.

Rescue operation

Earlier, seucirty sources said that at least 190 passengers have been freed after terrorists hijacked the Jaffar Express near Balochistan’s Bolan district.

According to security sources, forces have rescued a large number of hostages, including women and children. The rescued civilians were being used as human shields by the terrorists.

During the operation, the security forces practiced utmost caution because of the innocent lives involved. Meanwhile, 37 injured individuals have been evacuated for medical treatment, security sources confirmed.

The railway journey from Quetta to Peshawar includes various stops as it passes through at least 11 cities including Sibi, Jacobabad, Rohri, Khanpur, Bahawalpur, Khanewal, Sahiwal, Lahore, Gujranwala and Islamabad.

The attackers bombed the railway track before storming the train and opened fire on the locomotive, injuring the driver. The train, stopped just before a tunnel, was hijacked in a remote, mountainous region near the Afghanistan-Iran border.