Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfaraz Bugti and DG Inter-Services Public Relations Lt. General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry addressed a press conference regarding the Balochistan train attack on Friday, detailing the incident and the response by security forces. DG ISPR added that India was the main sponsor of terrorism in Balochistan.

CM Bugti condemned the attack and denounced the targeting of ‘unarmed people’. He added that the terrorism was being perpetrated under the guise of Baloch grievances but had no link to Baloch people just as the Tehreek-e-Taliban had no link to Islam.

The DG ISPR then detailed the operation, adding that the terrorists had targeted the train with an IED. He added that the terrorists also attacked an FC picket nearby in large numbers martyring three soldiers.

He added that the terrorists took the prisoners of the train hostage. He added that the hostages were split into multiple groups with women and children being kept inside the train and the rest being kept outside. He added that the hostages were periodically executed to instil fear into them.

The DG ISPR said that the terrorists released some hostages after ethnic profiling to give the false impression of humanitarianism.

Sharif said that security forces began targeting the terrorists with sniper fire, which allowed some hostages to escape in both directions. However, some escaping hostages were shot.

He added that the suicide bombers placed within the hostage clusters were taken out. Afterwards, soldiers from SSG’s elite Zarrar unit entered the train through the engine to begin a clearance operation. He also showed a video of the SSG commandoes making their entry.

Sharif said that the operation was the ‘most successful’ in terms of train rescues in history as not a single passenger was killed during the clearance operation. He showed visuals of the eliminated terrorists in the train as well. He added that a clearance operation was still going in the mountains to eliminate any remaining terrorists.

The DG ISPR added that the weapons being carried by the terrorists came from Afghanistan and the attackers were constantly in communication with their Afghan handlers. He added that the main sponsor of terrorism in Balochistan is India.

CM Bugti added that RAW is uniting terrorist groups which normally appear on the opposite ends of the ideological spectrum. He added that Pakistan has complete evidence of the involvement of a foreign hand in the province’s instability.

[This story is being updated]