The Jaffar Express was hijacked in the Mashkaf and Dhadar regions, and the BLA took credit for the incident.
182 individuals, including Pakistani military officers and representatives of Pakistan’s intelligence agency, ISI, were taken captive after the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) took control of the Jaffar Express in the Bolan region of Pakistan.
After armed militants took control of the Jaffar Express, which was transporting more than 400 passengers in Pakistan’s unrest-plagued Balochistan area, more than 150 captives have reportedly been released. According to reports, a confrontation with the army has killed at least 27 insurgents.
The Jaffar Express was hijacked in the Mashkaf and Dhadar regions, and the BLA took credit for the incident.
What is the Liberation Army of Balochistan?
The Baloch ethnonationalist group known as the BLA was founded in the early 2000s and seeks independence for Balochistan. The BLA claims that Pakistan annexed Balochistan against the will of its people and that the Khan of Kalat, the region’s former ruler, was coerced into signing the accession document in March 1948.
In 2006, Pakistan outlawed the group, and in 2019, the US classified it as a worldwide terrorist organization. The BLA said in their statement that Majeed Brigade, a “fidayeen” or death squad outfit, was in charge of Tuesday’s Jaffar Express hijacking. Fateh Squad, STOS, and Zirab, the intelligence branch, helped with it.
The Majeed Brigade: What is it?
Active since 2011, the Majeed Brigade has participated in numerous attacks, including one on a complex close to the port of Gwadar in Balochistan in March 2024. Numerous insurgents and security personnel were killed as a consequence.
Two brothers, Majeed Langove Senior and Majeed Langove Junior, are said to be the namesakes of the Majeed Brigade. Junior was slain attempting to defend his colleagues during a 2010 raid by Pakistani security forces, while Senior was killed while trying to kill then-prime minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto during the latter’s official visit to Quetta in 1974.
On December 30, 2011, the Majeed Brigade executed its first suicide assault. Shafiq Mengal, a tribal leader and Pakistan Army operative, was the target. Though at least 14 people were killed in the attack, Mengal managed to survive.
The group returned in 2018 and assaulted a bus transporting Chinese engineers in Dalbandin near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Since then, it has executed additional attacks—the Chinese Consulate in Karachi in November 2018, Gwadar’s Pearl Continental Hotel in May 2019, and the Pakistan Stock Exchange in June 2020.
Jaffar Express: What is it?
In honor of Mir Jaffar Khan Jamali, a Baloch tribal chieftain who was close to Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, the nine-coach Jaffar Express was named. More than 20 years ago, it started operating between Rawalpindi and the provincial capital of Balochistan. In 2017, the train was extended to Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, covering a distance of about 1,600 kilometers, according to Indian Express.
What was the attack on Jaffar Express?
In the Bolan area, the Jaffar Express train headed for Peshawar was assaulted by BLA terrorists. It was on its way to Quetta. In Tunnel No. 8, armed individuals stopped a train carrying about 400 passengers, according to Muhammad Kashif, Controller of Railways, who spoke to the media.
Shehbaz Sharif, the prime minister of Pakistan, denounced the event. “It is evident that the terrorists have no affiliation with Islam, Pakistan, or Balochistan,” he stated, referring to the fact that they targeted innocent passengers during the tranquil and auspicious month of Ramadan.
