Dozens Freed, Hundreds Still Held Hostage in Deadly Pakistan Train Siege – Ongoing Efforts to Secure Safe Release of Remaining Passengers

Sajid Raza March 14, 2025

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Paramedics treat an injured passenger at the Mach railway station, which has been turned into a makeshift hospital, after Pakistani security forces freed nearly 80 passengers following a security operation against armed militants who ambushed the train in the remote mountainous area, in Mach, southwestern Balochistan province on March 11, 2025.

Mach, Pakistan: Pakistani security forces successfully freed dozens of train passengers who had been taken hostage by armed militants in southwestern Pakistan on Tuesday. However, hundreds more remain trapped in the ongoing siege, which has turned deadly.

According to security sources, intense gunfire continued between Pakistani troops and the militants throughout the day.

The attack unfolded when gunmen halted the train in a remote, mountainous region of Balochistan province. The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), a separatist group behind rising violence in the area, immediately claimed responsibility for the assault. The BLA operates in a region that borders both Afghanistan and Iran.

“Security forces have managed to free 80 hostages, including 43 men, 26 women, and 11 children,” sources reported to AFP. They also confirmed the deaths of 13 militants in the operation. “Efforts are ongoing to ensure the safe release of the remaining passengers. The terrorists have been surrounded, and the operation will continue until every last terrorist is neutralized.”

A nearby railway station in Mach has been converted into a makeshift hospital to treat some of the wounded passengers.

Sadly, the assault claimed the lives of the train driver, a police officer, and a soldier, according to paramedic Nazim Farooq and railway official Muhammad Aslam, who were both present at Mach railway station.

Earlier in the day, Muhammad Kashif, a senior railway official in Quetta, the provincial capital, stated that over 450 passengers remained held hostage by the gunmen.

In a statement, the BLA explained that the militants bombed the railway tracks before storming aboard the train. The group took control of the train swiftly, capturing all passengers and warning of severe consequences should any rescue attempt be made.

The incident occurred at approximately 1:00 pm (0800 GMT) in rural Sibi district, near a city station where the train was scheduled to stop. The train had departed from Quetta for Peshawar, a journey of more than 30 hours, at around 9:00 am.

A senior police official from the Sibi area, who requested anonymity, confirmed that the train remains stuck just before a tunnel surrounded by mountains.

In response to the attack, an emergency has been declared at hospitals in Sibi. The operation to secure the safe release of the remaining passengers is ongoing.