Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif visits Balochistan after train hijack

Karachi: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday visited the restive Balochistan province to review the law and order situation and to express solidarity with the people there following the Jaffar Express hijacking incident in which 21 civilians and four soldiers were killed.

Sharif's visit comes a day after security forces killed all 33 Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) militants who on Tuesday hijacked the Jaffar Express.

Sharif is accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar, Federal Minister for Planning, Development Ahsan Iqbal, Federal Minister for Science and Technology Nawabzada Mir Khalid Magsi and others.

The incident occurred when the train, travelling from Quetta to Peshawar and carrying 440 passengers, was ambushed by BLA militants near the mountainous terrain of Gudalar and Piru Kunri in a tunnel. They opened fire on the train and held the passengers hostage, prompting the security forces to initiate an operation that lasted two days.

Announcing the completion of the operation, Director General Inter-Services Public Relations Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry on Wednesday said the armed forces took part in the action against militants who "remained in contact with their facilitators and mastermind based in Afghanistan via satellite phone".

Units from the Pakistan Air Force (PAF), Special Services Group (SSG), Army, and Frontier Corps (FC) took part in the operation, the army's spokesperson said.

Chaudhary said 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 Jaffar Express changes the rules of the game,” he said.

The bodies of those killed in the attack will be sent to their native areas after necessary administrative prerequisites.

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Thursday lambasted former prime minister Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) for “politicising” the incident and misinterpreting the situation on social media. "We need to rise above political interests and demonstrate national unity (on such occasions)," said Asif.

Asif slammed the former PTI-led government’s decision to relocate thousands of fighters from the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) to the country.

On the Jaffar Express rescue operation, the minister said, “God forbids, there could have been a lot of casualties, but the security forces eliminated the terrorists.

“Our war against terrorism is a big milestone that the entire country can be proud of. If the entire nation stands proud like this with our armed forces, then there is no doubt we will be successful in our war (against terrorism),” the minister asserted.