Editorial: Balochistan Train Hijacking

Editorial: The extent to which terrorism has become a major headache for Pakistan can be gauged from the incident of Baloch rebels hijacking a train carrying around 500 passengers in the province of Balochistan. On Tuesday, Baloch rebels hijacked the Quetta-Peshawar-bound Jafar Express in the Bolan Pass area near the border of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces. They stopped the train in one of the seven tunnels (Mushqaf Tunnel) on this five hundred kilometer long rail route.

To stop the train, they blew up a part of the railway track and then opened fire, killing some members of the train crew, including the engine driver.

Train traffic on the route on which the train was travelling had been suspended for a month and a half due to fears of terror attacks. This traffic was restored a few days ago after a search operation by security agencies. The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), considered the most powerful and deadly of the Baloch insurgent groups, has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping. According to Pakistani government figures, the BLA was the second-highest killer in 2024 after the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

While the TTP claimed 300 lives, the BLA killed 224. These figures are included in the Pakistan Security Report, 2024. Non-governmental organizations put the death toll in Pashtun and Baloch insurgent activities at a higher level. They say the Pakistani government has been describing many terror incidents as ‘routine crimes’ to hide its ‘incompetence’.

Pakistani intelligence agencies have been sowing discord between the Baloch and Pashtuns for more than five decades. The policy of settling Pashtuns in Baloch areas was an important part of the above campaign.

But for the last five years, TTP has maintained close and coordinated relations with BLA and another Baloch rebel group-Balochistan Nationalist Army (BNA). Thanks to this coordination, these organizations were able to neutralize the Pakistani army's campaign 'Azam-e-Istiqama' to eliminate terrorists. The goals of TTP and Baloch rebel groups are different. TTP has been fighting for the unification of Pashtun areas in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

That is why it has been receiving direct and indirect support from the Afghan Taliban. Its bases are also on the Afghan side of the Pak-Afghan border. The goal of Baloch rebels is not fundamentally separatist. They have been fighting to protect the rights of the Baloch in Balochistan. They have been emphasizing on demands like stopping the plundering of the mineral wealth of Baloch land, spending the provincial financial resources on the people of the province and giving the province semi-autonomy. They also have bases on Afghan soil, but the number of their supporters and helpers in the Sistan-Baluchistan province of Iran is not less.

Some incidents of train hijacking by terrorists took place in Africa and southern Europe, especially in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Sudan during the twentieth century. Some films (‘The Taking of Pelham’, ‘Under Siege 2’, ‘Death Train’ etc.) have also been made in Hollywood about such incidents. But this is the first time that terrorists have done such an act in Pakistan. In such cases, the innocent often bear the brunt.

That is why such violence should be condemned. The Pakistani Interior Ministry has claimed that more than 27 terrorists have been killed. Since the military operation was not completed till Wednesday night, there is speculation about the number of deaths and injuries. The Interior Ministry says that the kidnappers' demand for the release of all Baloch political prisoners imprisoned in Pakistani jails has not been accepted. Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif also claims that the government has not bowed to blackmail. Such determination is justified in its place, but the reality is that the demands of the Baloch rebels are not unreasonable either. Although the manner of their struggle is misleading and wrong, the struggle itself is not wrong.