Jaffar Express attack: All terrorists killed; 21 passengers died before clearance operation: DG ISPR
Jaffar Express, with over 400 passengers on board, was on its way from Quetta to Peshawar when it came under attack.
“All 33 terrorists have been sent to hell…. Four Frontier Corps personnel embraced martyrdom during the clearance operation,” said Lt Gen Chaudhry in an interview with a private news channel. However, he added, before the clearance operation, 21 passengers were martyred by the terrorists.
“No one can be permitted to make innocent people of Pakistan the victim of their barbarism in the streets, trains, buses or markets because of their misleading ideology,” DG ISPR said.
“Whoever does this, let me say it very clearly, will be hunted down and brought to justice. Let me also say that this incident of Jaffer Express changes the rules of the game,” he stressed.
The DG ISPR also confirmed that the attackers had been in contact with their handlers in Afghanistan, underlining the cross-border nature of the operation.
He revealed that the militants used hostages, including women and children, as human shields, placing them in groups, with suicide bombers among them. The security forces swiftly neutralised the threat, with snipers taking out the suicide bombers, he added.
Jaffar Express, with over 400 passengers on board in nine bogies, was on its way from Quetta to Peshawar when it came under attack in the Dhadar area of Bolan Pass on Tuesday, according to security sources.
It all started after armed gunmen forced the train to a halt in a remote, mountainous area of the province on Tuesday afternoon, with the assault immediately claimed by the banned Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), a terrorist group behind rising violence in the province.
The attackers bombed the railway track before storming aboard the train, said the security forces.
Railway authorities stated that mobile networks were not working in the area where the train was located, causing difficulties in communication
