Gunmen take 35 hostages in attack on train in southwest Pakistan
Militants have taken 35 passengers hostage after attacking a train in southwestern Pakistan.
Gunmen attacked a passenger train in Kacchi district of Pakistan's southwest on Tuesday.
The incident happened around 1 p.m. local time in rural Sibi district, near a city station where it had been due to stop.
The gunmen bombed the railway track before storming aboard the train.
The militants wounded several people, including the train driver, as they took control of the train in a remote, mountainous area of Balochistan province.
Authorities initially said heavily-armed militants held scores of passengers hostage and were using women and children as “human shields.”
"Around 350 passengers, including women and children are safe and a relief train will be reaching the area where the train was attacked," said a district senior police officer, Rana Dilawar.
Muhammad Kashif, a senior railway government official in Quetta, the capital of the province, earlier said the passengers include "women and children."
The attack was immediately claimed by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), a separatist group which is fighting for independence from Islamabad's control.
The group has "warned of severe consequences" if an attempt is made to rescue the hostages.
In a statement, the BLA said six military personnel were killed in the attack.
The group said they had taken hostages from the train, including security forces, with the exact number in their custody unclear.
Pakistani railway officials told local media that no contact has been established with the passengers and staff aboard the nine-coach train.
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