As the Pakistani train unfolded

Mehbub Hussein was traveling on the train home on Tuesday when the tracks under the front machine exploded.

In the depths of the Bolan’s passage of the Central Pakistan, the desert pocket is so remote that there is no internet coverage and mobile network, nine Jaffar Express coach stopped. Then the bullets began to fly.

“I was a passenger on a train that was attacked,” said Mr. Hussein BBC Urdu.

He, along with 440 others, was traveling from a flower to Peshawar through the heart of the province of Restitsky Balochistan, when a group of armed militants impressed – they bombed traces, shot the train, and then stormed the carts.

Balochistan’s liberation army (BLA) quickly claimed the siege and threatened to kill many of those aboard if Pakistan’s authorities have not released political prisoners for 48 hours.

The group, which many countries have appointed a terrorist organization, held decades of rebels to gain independence for Balochistan, Islamabad’s accusation of operating Rich in the province’s mineral resources, as well as neglect it.

BLAA militants have a long history of attack on military camps, railway stations and trains in the region.

But it was the first time they drove it out.

The siege lasted more than 30 hours. According to the authorities, 300 passengers were now released, and 33 BLA fighters, 21 civil hostages and four troops were killed. But contradictory figures believe that many passengers are left without taking into account.

The information concerning the attack and the subsequent rescue operation was greatly controlled throughout.

But BBC was able to talk Many eyewitnesses that described the “court scenes” aboard the train when the attack unfolded.

According to Nur Urdu, the first few points said: “We have stirred breathing throughout the shooting, not knowing what was next.”

A train officer on board the train, said the BBC Urdu that, contrary to the initial reports of the Pakistani authorities, the train was “not in the tunnel but in the open ground” when it was hit.

BLA also released a video when the train was struck by an explosion. It shows an open section of the track, which runs along the base of the large slope.

Depending on this, according to the video, there is a set of BLA fighters.

The officer described the BBC as he initially “fought with other police officers” to try to avoid the militants until “ammunition was over”.

“They (BLA) were moving in front of us on the mountain, and they were much more numerous than we, in hundreds,” the officer recalled under the condition of anonymity. He noted that he was accompanied by four railway police and two members of the Pakistan border (FC).

According to Pakistani officials, at least 100 those on the train were members of security forces.

“I told my companion to give me a G-3 rifle because it’s the best weapon,” the officer explained. “When I got a rifle and circles, we also started shooting back. I fired once when they couldn’t approach us and trains … (but) one and a half, our ammunition ended … We were helpless.”

When a shotgun of those on board “Jaffar Express”, the militants descended from the surrounding mountains and began to take passengers from the train, the officer said.

“They started checking the cards and tell people this way,” he said, explaining that the hostages were divided into groups with the train, according to their ethnicity.

The militants spoke in the language of Balochi, he added and stated: “We made the demands of the government, and if they were not met, we will not regret anyone; we will set fire to the vehicle.”

The officer claimed that the militants received orders: “They would receive orders, and they took away people from the group and kill them. They killed many people – both the army and civilians.”

According to Mr. Nor, some passengers were allowed to leave untouched – including women, children, the elderly and those who lived in Balochistan.

Among those released was Nur Muhammad. He said that when an hour later, the initial volleys stopped, armed men made the door open and entered, saying: “Get out, or we will shoot you.”

Mr. Then they “told us to go straight and don’t look back.”

She advised that the couple passed through the desert, and with the “great difficulty” she reached the railway station Pannir at about 7 pm where they were resting.

His wife remembered at the moment when the Pakistani military came to meet them.

“They said to me,” Maam, enter with us, we’re safely a junction home, “she said. The soldiers took a couple to Mahh, she added,” and then we turned to the flowers to our children who were waiting for us. “

Some passengers who managed to get off the train late on Tuesday said they had almost four hours to get to the next railway station. They included Muhammad Ashraf, who was traveling by train to Lahore to visit his family.

“We got a lot of difficulty to the station,” he said Urdu BBC, “because we were tired and we had children and women.”

According to an official of the police, who did not want to call the night when the “Jaffar Express” came over at night, dozens of BLA fighters began to depart.

“Many of them hugged each other, and 70 people were left, and 20, 25 were left behind,” he said.

At about 10 pm, he recalled, the violence flared up again.

“Some people tried to escape, they (BLA) saw them and opened fire, then everyone fell to the ground,” the official said.

Mr. Mehbub similarly reminded of the gun throughout the night – and said that at one point a man close to him, who had five daughters, was shot.

“If someone is scored before your eyes, you don’t know what to do,” he said.

Another passenger, Alahdita, said his cousin was killed in front of him. He said his cousin asked the militants not to kill him because he had young daughters, but “his life was not deprived.”

On Wednesday, the BBC saw dozens of wooden coffins loaded at the flower train station. The railway official said they were empty and transported to collect victims.

It was during the morning prayer that rescuers from FC began firing BLA fighters on Wednesday, Mr. Allahdita said.

Against the background of sudden chaos, he and others escaped.

“When FC opened fire during the Fir’s call for prayer, we fled the militants,” Mr. Alahdita said.

Police also recalled the moment when FC moved, briefly distracting BLA fighters from hostages.

“When FC arrived in the morning, these people went to this direction,” the official said. “I said to my companion,” Let’s try to escape. “

When they escaped, the militants fired at the escape, and the official said his companion was beaten behind.

“He told me to let him go. I said no, I would carry you to the shoulder. Then another man also joined the hands, and we went down the hills and left the shooting.”

D -Medbub, Mr -n Allahdita, the official and his companion, all managed to avoid living Jaffar Express when FC attacks on militants.

Military and paramilitary troops and helicopters surrounded the train from Tuesday. On Wednesday, they killed the participants of the hostage and released the site, the military spokesman reports.

Authorities said there were 440 passengers on the train – and 300 of them were released. But it is still unclear what happened to the rest of 140. Reuters and AFP quoted an unnamed security official who said that some militants left, taking with them an unknown number of passengers.

The military states that it is still working to find passengers who have fled and fled in the neighborhood, and insists that any other involved in the abduction will be held accountable.

Mr. Nuar, who now spreads alms and mercy in his hometown with his wife, is simply grateful that he escaped the situation with his life.

“Thank God,” said Mr. Nuar. “He saved us.”