Pakistani train hijacking: Security forces continue to kill 16 extremists and free 104 captives

Pakistan's security forces shot down at least 16 hijackers after 104 people were rescued Tuesday after militants took control of a passenger train in the Balochistan province. On Tuesday afternoon, armed members of the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) stopped the Jaffar Express, which was traveling from Quetta to Peshawar with about 400 people in nine bogies, in a tunnel close to the hilly regions of Gudalar and Piru Kunri.

According to sources cited by PTI, 104 people, including women and children, were rescued by security personnel during a continuing gunfight with the insurgents. The cleanup effort will go on until every passenger is removed from the train, the report also stated. Security forces are reportedly pursuing the hostage passengers in the dark after some of them were taken into the mountains.

A different train took the rescued passengers—58 men, 31 women, and 15 children—to Mach, a town in the Kachhi region of Pakistan's Balochistan province, according to the sources cited in the PTI article.