Pakistani insurgents attacked a passenger train carrying several hundred people through a tunnel on Tuesday and claimed to take over 100 hostages, though officials later said at least 80 were rescued. The fate of the rest was not immediately known.
Security officials said the attackers blew up the railroad track in restive southwestern Balochistan province and exchanged fire with security guards aboard the train while using women and children as human shields.
The train was traveling from the provincial capital of Quetta to the northern city of Peshawar when it came under attack in Bolan district, government spokesman Shahid Rind said, calling it “an act of terrorism."
He said a rescue operation was underway, but access was not easy due to the rugged, mountainous terrain.
The separatist Baloch Liberation Army, which has waged a yearslong insurgency, claimed responsibility for the attack and said it took over 100 hostages, including security forces who were on board. The group, which Pakistan and the United States have designated a terrorist organization, didn't respond to calls.
Officials at Pakistan Railways said the Jafar Express train was carrying an estimated 500 passengers, including women and children.
Three security officials later told The Associated Press that troops rescued at least 80 passengers, including women and children, and 13 attackers had been killed. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
Trains in Balochistan typically have security personnel on board. Separatists have previously carried out deadly attacks on trains in the region. In November, a separatist group carried out a suicide bombing at a train station in Quetta that killed 26 people.
The oil- and mineral-rich Balochistan is Pakistan’s largest and least populated province. It is a hub for the country’s ethnic Baloch minority, whose members say they face discrimination and exploitation by the central government.
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Associated Press writer Munir Ahmed in Islamabad contributed to this report.
