Baloch insurgents on Friday claimed to have executed 214 military hostages after its 48-hour ultimatum for a prisoner swap with the Pakistani government expired. The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) said the authorities refused to negotiate with them, thus leading to the mass execution.
The separatist group began its crisis on Tuesday by taking over the Peshawar-bound Jaffar Express by destroying railway tracks, taking with it over 400 passengers, mostly security personnel, in a high-stakes standoff. Insurgents had demanded the release of Baloch political prisoners and activists that they claimed were forcibly disappeared by Pakistani forces.
Baloch Liberation Army’s latest statement says all the 214 hostages have been executed: claimed a military statement which previously declared the siege over with all 33 attackers killed during a 30-hour-long operation. It stated casualties also included 23 soldiers, three railway employees, and five passengers.
The BLA rejected the claims by the Pakistani authorities and asserted that heavy fighting continued, with the Pakistani forces suffering tremendous losses. In the latest statement, the BLA said its fighters had killed 12 combatants. Pakistan and Balochistan are concerned over a presumed hostage settlement whereby hostages were kept some in foreseen compartments of trains and others were moved to another site.
The BLA claims that Pak commandos were rendered stiff resistance, resulting in several personnel being killed, before executing the hostages. The incident lies squarely in the heart of a more extended conflict known as the Baloch insurgency, demanding withdrawl from Pakistan, which is justified by historical concerns and alleged human rights violations perpetrated by the state.
The Pakistani authorities have refrained from issuing a formal statement, but the situation itself speaks of the unending turmoil in Balochistan, which has been the seat of an ancient separatist insurgency. At this evolving crisis time, security forces are on red alert in the backdrop of possible larger aftereffects and threats in an insurgency-ravaged province.
Edited by Saumya Sharan
