Two months following the sensational hijacking of the Jaffar Express in Balochistan, the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) has now come out with a 35-minute video explaining the operation, directly refuting Pakistan’s account of events involving the March 11 hijacking.
The video, published by the BLA’s media division Hakkal, provides the first detailed visual report of the hijacking, operated under codename Darra-e-Bolan 2.0. The clip shows the time BLA militants detonated railway tracks and hijacked the Peshawar-bound passenger train that had more than 450 passengers onboard at the time.
According to the BLA, its militants occupied the train for two days, holding over 200 Pakistani security personnel, including railway staff, hostage. The separatist outfit asserts that the operation was designed to inflict a heavy blow on what it termed the “occupying Pakistani state.”
The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) has released a 35-minute video documenting its attack and hijacking of the Jaffar Express train.
The footage shows BLA fighters conducting clearance operations inside the train. It also captures scenes where women, children, and the…
— Hakeem Baloch (@HakeemWadhela)
Pakistan’s army had previously said that the standoff was over after a 30-hour operation in which all 33 BLA fighters who were involved were killed. Authorities also said they killed 23 soldiers, three railway staff, and five passengers. The newly circulated BLA video contradicted these allegations, featuring what it claims are coordinated movements by its combatants and low casualties on their side.
The clip begins with a declaration from a masked BLA combatant, justifying the intention of the operation. “Our struggle and war has come to a point where we are to take such critical decisions,” he said. “A gun is needed to halt the gun… Baloch young men have taken the decision today to attack the enemy without any hesitation.”
Videography also featured combat briefings, training scenes of the group’s Fidayeen unit — the Majeed Brigade — and goodbye messages from its fighters. The BLA highlights discipline and readiness of its fighters, in contrast with the Pakistani Army’s depiction of the operation as chaotic and indiscriminate.
Notably, the video also depicted women, children, and elderly commuters being led out safely from the train, contravening Pakistan’s allegations of brutality and indiscriminate violence throughout the siege.
The video release is a break from BLA’s visual propaganda, intended to reinforce its narrative and discredit Pakistan’s narrative. The group reaffirmed its resolve to pursue the armed struggle for the independence of Balochistan, threatening Pakistani authorities that “they would not last long in Balochistan.”
The hijacking, one of the most prominent attacks in recent history, has once again raised concerns regarding security in the conflict-ridden region and indicated the increasing capabilities of insurgent forces operating in Balochistan.
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