In the annals of terrorism and militancy, aircraft hijacking has been a tried and tested formula which can bring even mighty states to their knees. However, hijacking an entire train with hundreds of passengers is something unheard of.
Nearly six months after the daring ‘August Rising’ in Balochistan in which almost 100 people were killed, the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) has struck again, this time hijacking an entire passenger train in Pakistan carrying over 400 passengers.
The BLA fighters fired on the Jaffar Express carrying around 400 passengers across nine bogies, on March 11. The attack injured the train driver, police, and railway officials. Over 100 people were held hostage.
Government spokesman Shahid Rind said the train was traveling from the provincial capital of Quetta to the northern city of Peshawar when it was attacked.
Notably, trains in Balochistan typically have armed security personnel on board as separatists have previously carried out deadly attacks on trains and security forces in the region. However, it seems that BLA fighters were able to attack the train despite the presence of armed security personnel.
BLA Claims Responsibility
The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), a separatist group active in Pakistan, has claimed responsibility for the attack.
“The Baloch Liberation Army has carried out a meticulously planned operation in Mashkaf, Dhadar, Bolan, where our freedom fighters have blown up the railway track, forcing the Jaffar Express to come to a halt. The fighters swiftly took control of the train, holding all passengers hostage,” BLA claimed in its press release.
It claimed that among the hostages are active-duty personnel from the Pakistani military, police, Anti-Terrorism Force (ATF), and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)—all of whom were traveling to Punjab on leave.
Second Major BLA Strike In Six Months
Incidentally, the daring BLA raid on the passenger train comes within six months of its now-famous August uprising in which nearly 100 people were killed.
In August last year, during multiple coordinated attacks throughout the province, the BLA had attacked highways, military installations, and police check-posts. The BLA had termed it “Operation Hereof,” declaring it as an offensive against the Pakistani Army in Balochistan.
What’s even more shocking is that for several hours, Pakistan has effectively lost connection with its largest province, with rail and road connections severed after blasts at railway lines and militants belonging to Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) seizing control of the highways.
Control could be reestablished only after Pakistan mobilized several army units from the Punjab province, who were hurriedly rushed to crush what the BLA termed “August Rising,” to commemorate the anniversary of the murder of Baloch chieftain Nawab Akbar Bugti in 2006 in a military operation that allegedly involved the use of fighter jets and cluster bombs.
Then in November, BLA targeted the Quetta railway station in Balochistan. As many as 32 people had died and over 70 were injured when a powerful blast ripped through the crowded railway station. The blast had targeted over 100 security force personnel who were waiting to board a train to Pakistan’s garrison city Rawalpindi.
From Plane To Train Hijacking
Terror groups and armed militants have often targeted passenger aircraft to force governments to accept their demands.
One of the most infamous aircraft hijacking incidents is, of course, the September 11, 2001, attacks, when four US passenger planes were hijacked. Two of these hijacked planes were deliberately crashed into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City and the third was crashed into the Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia. The fourth crashed in a field in Pennsylvania after the crew and passengers attempted to overpower the hijackers. September 11 attacks remain, to this day, the most significant terror attack in the US.
However, the history of plane hijackings goes at least 100 years back. One of the first plane hijacking incidents occurred in 1919, immediately in the aftermath of the First World War, when a Hungarian aristocrat hijacked a plane with a revolver and forced it to land in Vienna to flee persecution at the hands of the communist regime of the Hungarian Soviet Republic.
According to the ‘Aviation Safety Network’ database, plane hijackings peaked in the late 1960s and early 1970s but gradually declined after that. Between 1968 and 1972, there were 305 hijackings globally. From 1973 to 2001, hijacking incidents were fairly consistent, averaging around 20 to 40 per year.
In 1999, Indian Airlines flight IC 814 was hijacked from Kathmandu by Pakistan-based terrorists. The plane was forcibly taken first to Amritsar in India, then to Lahore in Pakistan, then to Dubai in the UAE, and finally to Kandhar in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. The hijackers were able to force the Indian government to release terrorists in exchange for the safe return of passengers.
However, fatalities-wise, 2001 was the deadliest year for plane hijackings, mainly due to the September 11 attacks in the US. As many as 2,996 people died as a result of the 9/11 attacks, making it the most fatal terrorist incident in recorded history.
In comparison, train hijackings are very rare. The last recorded incident of a train hijacking was around 48 years ago in 1977, when a train was hijacked in the Netherlands by Moluccan nationalists.
Over 50 people were taken hostage. The hijacking lasted 20 days and ended with a raid by Dutch counter-terrorist special forces, during which two hostages and six hijackers were killed.
The Moluccan nationalists wanted their own independent state, the Republic of South Maluku, in Indonesia. They were hopeful that the Dutch, former colonial rulers of Indonesia, would help them in their political demands of a separate state.
However, by the 1970s, some had grown disillusioned, feeling that the Dutch government had reneged on its promises, leading to politically motivated violence.
Why Train Hijackings Are More Difficult
The data on aircraft and train hijackings clearly establish that hijacking a train is a much more difficult task. During the last five decades, there have been hundreds of plane hijackings all over the world, including in the US, India, the Middle East, and Europe. However, there have been only two recorded incidents of train hijackings.
Security analysts point out that a number of interconnected factors make train hijackings less appealing to militants and terrorists.
Number of Passengers and Potential for Resistance: While an aircraft can carry up to 200 passengers, the number of passengers in a train could be many times more. These large number of passengers could be extremely difficult to control. Also, they can easily overpower the hijackers. Thus, while a small number of militants can hijack a plane and control its passengers, for achieving the same result in a train, many more militants would be required.
Many Entry & Exit points: An aircraft has limited entry and exit points. Also, while airborne, none of these entry/exit points can be utilized. On the other hand, in a train, every bogey could have 4 entry and exit points. The passengers could use these entry and exit points to escape, and the special forces could also use these same entry points to storm the train.
Security Intervention: Unlike aircraft in flight, trains can be stopped relatively quickly. This allows authorities to rapidly deploy security forces to the scene and potentially rescue passengers and apprehend hijackers.
Also, security forces can easily access a train from the ground, unlike aircraft, which are difficult to access mid-flight.
The combination of all these factors means that throughout history, militants have primarily targeted aircraft for hijacking, even though they can hold many more people hostage in a train.
Pakistan: A Tinderbox
The latest BLA train hijacking in Pakistan comes at a time when Pakistan is witnessing a sharp increase in terror activities.
Earlier this month, the Global Terrorism Index (GTI) 2025 report named Pakistan as the world’s second-most terror affected country. The report also revealed that Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is now the world’s fastest-growing terrorist group. According to the report, Burkina Faso was the world’s most terror-affected country and Syria was at third spot.
Pakistan witnessed a steep 45 per cent rise in terrorism-related deaths, increasing from 748 in 2023 to 1,081 in 2024. This spike is among the highest worldwide. The number of terror attacks also more than doubled, rising from 517 in 2023 to 1,099 in 2024. This was the first time since the index’s inception that attacks in Pakistan exceeded the 1,000 mark.
The security situation in Pakistan has been on a downward spiral ever since the return of the Taliban in Afghanistan in August 2001.
It remains to be seen how Islamabad will handle this delicate situation, as according to reports hundreds of people were held hostage and any rash step by the security forces could lead to the death of many innocent people.
- Sumit Ahlawat has over a decade of experience in news media. He has worked with Press Trust of India, Times Now, Zee News, Economic Times, and Microsoft News. He holds a Master’s Degree in International Media and Modern History from The University of Sheffield, UK.
- He can be reached at ahlawat.sumit85 (at) gmail.com
