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Newsinc24 Team The Pakistan Army announced on Wednesday that the Jaffar Express hostage-rescue operation was completed and all attackers present at the site were killed by security forces and the hostages freed. Speaking to a private news channel, Director General Inter-Services Public Relations Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry confirmed the completion of the complex operation, elaborating that units from the Pakistan Air Force (PAF), Special Services Group (SSG), army and Frontier Corps (FC) took part. He said that security forces killed all 33 militants present at the scene. Dozens of militants, affiliated with the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), blew up a railway track and assaulted the Jaffar Express on Tuesday, carrying more than 400 passengers, authorities said. An army official told AFP, confirming that 27 off-duty soldiers were shot by rebels.
"The terrorists remained in contact with their facilitators and mastermind based in Afghanistan via satellite phone during the clearance operation," he revealed. “Around 100 passengers were safely rescued yesterday evening from the terrorists, and today as well, a large number of passengers have been recovered,” he added. The incident has raised concerns over the security of the railway routes passing through remote areas of the province. Officials have, however, assured the public that measures are being taken to prevent such attacks in the future."Intelligence reports have unequivocally confirmed that the attack was orchestrated and directed by terrorist ring leaders operating from Afghanistan, who were in direct communication with the terrorists throughout the incident," said the ISPR.
