ISLAMABAD: 14 March 2025 – Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry holds India and Afghanistan both responsible for terrorism in Balochistan including train hijack and made it clear that Pakistan will confront the terrorists, facilitators and enablers in and out of the country. He also said the incident had changed the “rules of the game”.
DG held a press conference along with CM Balochistan Sarfarz Bugti to present official military civil side of version jointly to clarify the rumors , questions, objections whatever and rejected the impression of failure of intelligence in the case of hostage of train in Bolan.
CM Blochsitan blamed RAW, other hostile agencies waging war via Afghanistan. said on Friday that terrorists and their enablers and facilitators would be challenged both inside and outside the country, as he held a press conference in Islamabad related to the Jaffar Express attack.
The attack began on 11 March Tuesday afternoon when Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) terrorists ambushed the Peshawar-bound train carrying 440 passengers, opening fire and taking hostages. Security forces launched a two-day operation, concluding on 12 March Wednesday evening.
Regarding change of rules of the game, DG ISPR further elaborated, “Terrorists will be dealt with as they deserve, as those who drag innocent people out of buses and slaughter them, a group that divides people by ethnicity, have no connection to Baloch or Islam.
“We will deal with them as they deserve. We will take them on, their facilitators, their abettors, whether inside Pakistan or outside Pakistan,” he responded.
He said, “India was the main sponsor of terrorism in Balochistan, said the terrorists had used Afghan and foreign weapons in the recent incident and previous attacks.We must understand that in this terrorist incident in Balochistan, and others before, the main sponsor is your eastern neighbour (India).The Indian media displayed fake footage of the incident to spread propaganda,” he said, as he showed some video clips on a screen to prove his point.
One group of hostages with women and children was kept inside the train, while the other travelers were brought outside and gathered on the ground. They operated in multiple groups, taking strategic positions on higher ground. They had suicide bombers among their ranks.
The soldiers, the air force and the FC (Frontier Corps) successfully conducted the operation with professionalism and bravery. Special Services Group’s Zarrar Company had arrived in the area by midday and was monitoring the terrorists from a distance. Zarrar Company targeted the suicide bombers from a distance before moving in to secure the hostages.
DG ISPR said, “Not even a single casualty was recorded among the hostages during this entire operation. The martyred passengers were hit before the operation started.”
Pictures of terrorists killed during the operation and the weapons and equipment they were using were also shown to the audience. DG ISPR also showed video clips of soldiers during the operation itself, along with video messages from rescued hostages.
The DG ISPR added that the intelligence agencies knew that in this area, a threat existed, adding that it was because of the intelligence agencies that the security forces were able to respond in a successful manner.
How Many Passengers and Soldiers
DG ISPR said 33 terrorists were killed, while the count of martyred passengers had been updated to 26 from the previous figure of 21.
He said 354 passengers were successfully identified and rescued, bringing the total passenger count to 380. There were 26 fatalities with the potential for more since he said 37 of the 354 recovered hostages were injured.
18 of the 26 martyred belonged to the army or FC, three were linked to the railways and other departments, while the remaining 5 were civilians.
He said the operational fatalities—those not aboard the train—included three FC personnel killed at the picket, one FC soldier martyred on Wednesday morning, and another stationed for security duty on the train.
Terrorism and Anti Terrorism Operations
DG ISPR said the pace of implementation of the National Action Plan’s 14 points needed to be considered first.
He said law enforcement agencies conducted 59,775 intelligence-based operations, both major and minor, in 2024. So far in 2025, 11,654 IBOs have been carried out. This year, we are averaging 180 IBOs per day. Around 1,250 terrorists were “sent to hell” in 2024 and 2025, while 563 security personnel were martyred.
