Baloch separatists who hijacked a train with 200-plus people on board Pakistan, had stopped the train inside a tunnel by blowing up the tracks. They had then opened fire at the engine, in which the driver was injured, reported Pakistani news channel Geo News.

Security officials present on the train returned fire but failed to stop the terrorists who took control of the train, Geo News reported, quoting un-named sources.

There are 17 tunnels in that area on the railway line and due to the difficult terrain, the speed of the train is often slow. “The train was stopped by armed men in Tunnel No 8,” the train controller said. 

The banned Baloch Liberation Army has apparently given an ultimatum to the Pakistan government.

Their message said if their demands are not met within the given time-frame, or any military intervention is attempted, “all prisoners of war would be destroyed and the train would be completely destroyed”.

The group has claimed that they have 214 Pakistani personnel in their custody. These include personnel from the military, paramilitary, police and intelligence agencies.

There is no word on the civilians who were on the train as well. More than 450 passengers and staff are feared to have been taken hostage, local media had reported.

Sources said that no contact could be immediately made with the train crew due to the lack of mobile and telephone networks at the location of the attack.

The local authorities in Balochistan have imposed emergency measures and all institutions have been mobilised to deal with the situation, government spokesperson Shahid Rind said, according to Pakistani daily Dawn.

The Baloch Liberation Army is the strongest of a number of insurgent groups in Pakistan that have been active in the areas bordering Afghanistan and Iran. The low-key group has suddenly stepped up their activities using new tactics to inflict high death and injury tolls and target the Pakistan army. 

(With agencies)