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Separatist militants hijacked a train carrying more than 400 people in an isolated mountainous area of southwestern Pakistan on Tuesday. The fate of the passengers, dozens of whom the militants said they were holding hostage, was not immediately clear.<\/p>\n
The militants, Baloch ethnic fighters, forced the train to stop in the Bolan district of Balochistan Province after opening fire on it, according to railway and police officials. The train was traveling from Quetta, the capital of Balochistan, to Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province. It was to pass through several cities, including Lahore and Rawalpindi, near Islamabad.<\/p>\n
Shahid Rind, a spokesman for the Balochistan provincial government, said the authorities were struggling to reach the site of the ambush because of the challenging terrain.<\/p>\n
Rashid Hussain, a trader in Quetta, said his family had left on the train for Rawalpindi in the morning but had become unreachable after 2 p.m. \u201cI am deeply worried,\u201d he said by telephone. \u201cThe government is not providing any updates. Neither roads nor trains are safe in this province.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The seizure of the passenger train highlighted the increasing sophistication of a separatist insurgency in Pakistan\u2019s southwest. The attack was the latest in a series of violent episodes in Balochistan, a province bordering Iran and Afghanistan that is the site of major Chinese-led projects<\/a>, including a strategic port.<\/p>\n A group known as the Baloch Liberation Army, or B.L.A., claimed responsibility for the train hijacking.<\/p>\n The group said it had taken 182 hostages, including members of various security agencies who were traveling while on leave. \u201cCivilian passengers, particularly women, children, the elderly and Baloch citizens, have been released safely and provided a secure route,\u201d the group said in a Telegram post.<\/p>\n That account could not be independently verified, and the government has yet to confirm reports of hostages or any casualties.<\/p>\n Last year, the B.L.A. carried out one of Pakistan\u2019s deadliest terrorist attacks, a suicide bombing that killed at least 25 people<\/a>, including security personnel, at Quetta\u2019s busy railway station.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n