ISLAMABAD: Director General (DG) Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif on Wednesday said that all the hostage passengers of Jaffar Express had been rescued and the 33 terrorists killed by security forces.
Speaking to a private TV, General Sharif said that on March 11 terrorists targeted the railway track in Bolan and terrorists stopped the Jaffar Express and made the passengers hostage. The railway officials said that there were 440 people on the train.
The ISPR chief said that the area was difficult, the terrorists used the hostages as human shields, including children and women. The rescue operation was launched immediately in which the Army, Air Force, Frontier Corps and today the SSG men participated and the hostages were released in stages.
He said that in the clearance operation in the evening, all the captives were recovered. First the snipers of the forces killed the suicide bombers, then the bogey clearance was done step by step and all the 33 terrorists present there were killed.
According to Gen Sharif, no passenger was harmed during the clearance operation, but 21 passengers were martyred in the brutality of the terrorists before the operation, while four soldiers FC laid down their lives during the operation.
Reuters news agency added
Armed militants said they had killed 50 passengers from the train as security forces worked to rescue the hostages.
Reuters was not able to verify the militants’ account. The Interior Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the militants’ statement.
