Quetta: Separatist militants in southwestern Pakistan announced on Tuesday that they have taken 182 hostages, including military personnel and security officials, during an attack on an express train traveling from Quetta in Balochistan to Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The group has threatened to kill the hostages if security forces do not withdraw from their region.

According to Qatar News Agency, police, and railway officials, the train, carrying approximately 400 passengers, was ambushed inside a tunnel. The train’s driver sustained severe injuries, and gunfire was exchanged between security personnel and militants in the mountainous area near the tunnel.

The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), a separatist armed group seeking independence for the province bordering Afghanistan and Iran, claimed responsibility for the attack. The group stated that civilian passengers, particularly women, children, the elderly, and Balochistan residents, were released and given safe passage. However, they warned that if military intervention continues, all hostages will be executed.

The separatist group also claimed to have killed 20 soldiers and shot down a drone, though Pakistani authorities have yet to confirm these claims.

In response, Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi condemned the attack, stating that the government will make no concessions to the savages who fired on innocent passengers.

Shahid Rind, spokesperson for the Balochistan provincial government, reported that emergency measures have been implemented to address the situation but provided no further details.

The decades-long insurgency by separatist groups in Balochistan has led to repeated attacks on government, military, and Chinese interests in the region, as these groups demand a share of the province’s mineral-rich resources.