Pakistan rescues 190 hostages from hijacked train amid fighting
Pakistani forces have freed 190 passengers from a train that was hijacked by militants, as fighting continued to free more hostages held by militants in explosives-filled vests.
PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Pakistani forces have freed 190 passengers from a train that was hijacked by separatist militants, security officials said Wednesday, as fighting continued to free dozens more hostages held by militants in explosive-filled vests.
Militants said Wednesday that they had executed 50 hostages, in addition to the 10 they killed late Tuesday, as well as the 10 Pakistani soldiers they killed during a firefight on Tuesday and the 30 people who they killed "in combat." That leaves 150 hostages still in captivity.
More than 400 people, including 214 soldiers and other security personnel, were on the Jaffar Express on Tuesday as it traveled from Quetta, the capital of Pakistan's restive southwestern Balochistan province, to the northern city of Peshawar.
As it entered a tunnel in a remote, mountainous district of Balochistan, the railway track was blown up by militants who then opened fire on the train, killing 11 people in Pakistan’s first such hijacking.
Passengers freed Tuesday from the hijacked Jaffar Express train in Quetta, Pakistan.Mazhar Chandio / Anadolu via Getty ImagesArmed with rockets, grenades and guns, the assailants then began taking passengers hostage. Security officials said the militants separated law enforcement personnel from the others before taking them into the mountains in small groups.
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