Hijack train in Pakistan news: In another shocking incident, it has been reported that the Jafar Express train was hijacked by Baloch Liberation Army in Balochistan, Pakistan. 214 citizens of Pakistan were also held hostages, along with army personnel, paramilitary, police officers, and intelligence officials.
The BLA has announced the taking responsibility of the attack, claiming that over 30 Pakistani soldiers perished in the clash. The group goes on to issue an ultimatum of 48 hours to the Shahbaz Sharif government to release Baloch prisoners from Pakistan jails. So far, the army and police of Pakistan have not made any official comments regarding the incident.
Shahbaz Sharif, Prime Minister of Pakistan, spoke to the nation and said, “The morale of our security forces remains high. Despite the challenging terrain, our brave soldiers are tirelessly working to rescue the hostages.” The army has launched full-scale operations to free the hostages from the grasp of BLA rebels.
What does the Baloch Liberation Army want?
The demands of Baloch Liberation Army are clear, and defined loud and clear. The group sees Balochistan as totally different province and country having its own governing body. They mostly demand removal of all Pakistani security agencies and representatives from Balochistan.
In the same way, the BLA raised the major issue about the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects and charged them with mining the natural resources of Balochistan to uproot communities. For decades, Baloch people protested against such projects and claimed that the interests of outsiders were made better instead of their land and livelihood.
This incident is just an isolated one. The BLA has been involved in hitting Pakistani forces, Chinese engineers, and diplomats from time to time. The activities of these insurgents have surged especially with increased Chinese presence in the area now.
What Does Separatism Grow in Balochistan?
Separation from motherland runs deep in Balochistan’s heart due to decades-long political marginalization and oppression by the Pakistani regime. The people of Baloch felt left out and exploited, hence the formation of many separatist groups, to name but the few, including the Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF) and Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA). These groups have taken the course of political violence to achieve their end, with independence for Balochistan.
BLA is avowedly the largest and the most prominent among these groups, which has been seen in insurgency against the Pakistani government for decades. It was listed as a terrorist organization by Pakistan, the US, and the UK; seeing that the BLA had attacked several times against the security forces and government buildings, besides Chinese interests in the region.
Majeed Brigade is certainly one of the most notorious branches of BLA; it is a suicide squad used for important attacks such as the one on the Chinese embassy in Karachi in 2018 and also an attack on a luxury hotel at Gwadar in 2019.