Pakistani army claims to have freed all hostages in passenger train siege; 28 personnel killed
All the train passengers who were taken hostage by the Baloch rebel group in southwestern Pakistan have been freed, an army official told AFP on Wednesday.
The army official said that at least 28 soldiers were killed in the siege.
"346 hostages were freed and over 30 terrorists were killed during the operation," an army official told AFP.
The militants killed 27 off-duty soldiers who were passengers on the train and one soldier was killed during the operation, the Pakistani army official said.
However, the Baloch army in a statement said they executed 50 army personnel in total. They have even claimed that they still have hostages and will execute them if Pakistan does not respond in the next 20 hours.
Earlier, the rebels released the video footage showing the moment when Pakistan's Jaffar Express was hijacked.
According to reports, more than 400 passengers, mostly security forces, were present in the train when it was targeted by the Baloch Liberation Army on Tuesday.
Pakistani security forces claimed 30 rebels were also killed in the gunfight on Tuesday itself.
According to security officials, the terrorists have suffered heavy losses in this operation and split into small groups, reported Ary News.
Some injured passengers were taken to hospital.
As per the security forces, the militants were accompanied by suicide bombers and using civilians as human shields, the news channel reported.
Pakistan media reports claimed the attackers were in contact with their 'facilitators' in Afghanistan.
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