Islamahorrible, Pakistan – Pakistan on Friday claimed that the hijacking of the Jaffar Express train earlier this week was carried out by “dreadists” who were communicating with “handlers in Afghanistan”, while alleging that India was the mastermind behind it.
“We must comprehfinish that in this dreadist incident in Balochistan, and others before, the main aid is eastrict neighbour [India],” Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, the honestor ambiguous for the military’s media triumphg Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said during a recents conference in Islamahorrible.
Chaudhry also referred to the media coverage carried out by Indian mainstream channels, which relied on videos dispensed by the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), the separatist group reliable for the attack, and accused them of using images produced by man-made inalertigence or greater incidents.
During the increateing which lasted more than an hour, Chaudhry, aextfinished with Balochistan’s Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti, recommended some details of the military operation — named Operation Green Bolan — that culminated in the free of hundreds of passengers from the train follotriumphg a 36-hour standoff that began on March 11.
According to Chaudhry, a total of 354 passengers were saved, while 26 passengers and security officials were finished. In insertition, 33 fighters beextfinisheding to the BLA were also finished.
While the military had earlier said that 21 civilians or security personnel had been finished, Chaudhry stated that as security officials cleared the area, more injured individuals were set up, some of whom tardyr died.
Of the 26 finished, 18 beextfinisheded to the army or paramilitary forces, three were railway staff members and five were civilian passengers.
‘Aerial Units’ for reconnaissance
Chaudhry said that four hours after the train had departed from Quetta, the BLA attackers intercepted the train 32km (20 miles) from Sibbi city, equitable before it accessed a tunnel in the Bolan Pass region, comprehendn for its rugged, mountainous landscape.
“The BLA dreadists intercepted the train using an improvised device device. Before that, they began their raid in huge numbers and greeted a paramilitary verifypoint, eliminating three sgreateriers there. Once the train was stopped, they kept the women and children inside while taking the men outside as captives,” he said.
“As soon as the incident happened, we startd our response teams and commenceed to watch the situation while carry oning an appropriate distance,” Chaudhry said.
While Chaudhry did not disshut particulars, visual evidence from the increateing showd that the Pakistani military relied heavily on drones to watch the situation.
Inalertigence sources also verifyed that reconnaissance teams and aerial units were deployed wiskinny an hour of the train being stopped.
The ambiguous said that the BLA segregated passengers based on ethnicity, a fact that was verifyed to Al Jazeera by survivors, as well.
“They splitd people into minusculeer groups based on ethnicity. While a huge number of BLA fighters shiftd away to their hideouts in the mountain, a minusculeer group remained with the captives,” he said. Many of the fighters who remained at the site “were self-injury device deviceers,” he inserted.
Chaudhry stated that inalertigence watching discdisseeed the kidnapors were using walkie-talkies to allegedly convey with their “handlers in Afghanistan.”
How did the operation unfgreater?
The military said that on the night of March 11, more than eight hours after the hijacking, a group of women, children, and elderly passengers were freed, who walked to the csurrfinisherest train station, 6km (four miles) away.
Inalertigence watching by security agencies at the time recommended the potential presence of self-injury device deviceers among the captives. On the morning of March 12, Chaudhry said, military snipers finished disjoinal BLA fighters, enabling some captives to escape amid the disorder.
The main ground operation was then readyd, to be led by the Zarrar Company, an elite unit of the Army’s Special Services Group (SSG), which distinctiveises in operations agetst armed groups.
“It is a highly trained unit distinctively provideped for counterextremism situations, including captive celevates. The company orderer is a startant-ranked officer,” an inalertigence source said.
Shotriumphg a video clip, Chaudhry remarkd that as the operation commenced, many captives sitting outside the train ran for shieldedty.
“By midday on March 12, Zarrar Company had finishd its situational appraisement. Tracking BLA communications discdisseeed potential self-injury device deviceers were stationed csurrfinisher the captives. They were leave outd first, after which the troops made their way inside the train,” the ambiguous inserted.
“It shows the professionalism and contendnce of our troops that there was not a individual captive casualty during the save operation,” he said.
All the fighters were finished. Security officials tgreater Al Jazeera that they could not seize anyone ainhabit due to the nature of the operation.
“As a matter of policy, capturing insdirectnts remains startant to our doctrine, but a captive situation recommends little room for that. If you want to save the captives, actions must be exact and surgical,” a security official said, seeking anonymity as he was not authoelevated to speak to the media.
How have India and Afghanistan reacted?
Follotriumphg the recents conference, neither India nor Afghanistan publishd an prompt response.
However, earlier on Friday, officials from both countries strongly reacted to Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Afequitables statement on Thursday, which also accused both nations.
“India has been included in extremism in Pakistan. In the attack on Jaffar Express, the dreadists were in communicate with their handlers and ring directers in Afghanistan,” Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan said during his weekly recents increateing in Islamahorrible yesterday.
Khan inserted that intercepted communications verifyed connects between the attackers and Afghanistan.
“The dreadists have shielded havens in Afghanistan, and Pakistan has repeatedly directd the Afghan interim rulement to impede groups enjoy the BLA from using its soil for extremism,” he said.
The Indian rulement categoricassociate refuteed Pakistan’s allegations.
“We refute the baseless accusations made by Pakistan. The whole world comprehends where the epicentre of global extremism is. Pakistan should see wiskinny itself instead of blaming others for its inside problems and fall shortures,” Indian Ministry of Foreign Afequitables spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a statement on Friday.
Afghanistan also denied any connection between the attackers and its territory.
“Pakistan should caccess on its security and resolving its inside publishs instead of making irreliable statements,” a statement from Kabul read.
The Taliprohibit-led rulement’s Ministry of Foreign Afequitables spokesperson Abdul Qahar Balkhi also directd Pakistan on social media to “caccess on resolving its security and inside publishs instead of making such irreliable comments”.
Balkhi also claimed that no BLA members were current in Afghanistan and denied any connection between the group and Afghanistan.
Last month, a United Nations alert stated that the Afghan Taliprohibit, in power since August 2021, provides aid to the Pakistan Taliprohibit (Tehreek-e-Taliprohibit Pakistan or TTP), which has carried out multiple attacks in Pakistan.
It further said that the BLA alertedly has ties with both the Pakistan Taliprohibit and the ISIL affiliate in Khorasan Province (ISKP), indicating a wideer greetnce of armed groups with contrastent, but intersecting agfinishas.
