PM meets survivors of deadly train hijack, commandos

Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif was in the restive southwestern Balochistan province on Thursday to meet survivors of a train attack and the commandos who rescued over 300 passengers from insurgents who killed 21 civilian and four troops.

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The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), an outlawed group behind multiple deadly attacks in recent months, claimed responsibility for the attack that began Tuesday and ended Wednesday when troops killed all 33 insurgents in an operation that the military said resulted in no further passenger deaths.

The train was heading from Quetta to Peshawar when insurgents blew up the track, forcing nine coaches and the engine of the Jafer Express train to stop partially inside a tunnel.

‘Amid tight security, Shahbaz and members of his cabinet were received by senior government officials on his arrival at an airport in Quetta, his office said. It provided no further details. Authorities said arrangements were made to transport the bodies of victims to their hometowns and people who were wounded were receiving medical treatment.

Shafgat Ali Khan, the spokesman at Pakistan's ministry of foreign affairs, told reporters in Islamabad that BLA assailants who hijacked the train were in contact with their handlers in Afghanistan.

“Our security forces successfully eliminated all 33 terrorists, including suicide bombers, while rescuing the hostages,” he said.