Jaffar Express attack 'facilitators' arrested by CTD: sources

The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) arrested four suspected facilitators of the March 11 terrorist attack on the Jaffar Express near Balochistan's Bolan district, sources privy to the matter claimed on Tuesday.  

Investigations into the terrorist attack on the passenger train were underway, CTD sources said, adding that they, along with other agencies, were working to trace and identify those involved in the attack.

Weapons and other communication devices recovered from the slain terrorists were sent for forensic analysis, the sources added.

The outlawed Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), during the attack on the Jaffar Express, blew up train tracks and held over 440 passengers hostage in a day-long standoff with security forces near a remote mountain pass in the Bolan district.

The military, after clearing the train and rescuing hostages, said it killed 33 attackers. Before the operation began, terrorists had martyred 26 passengers, while four security personnel were martyred during the operation.

Addressing a press conference on March 14, Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (DG ISPR) Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry termed India the main sponsor of terrorism in Balochistan, saying the latest attack on Jaffar Express was the continuation of the same policy.

Addressing a media briefing flanked by Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti, the DG ISPR said: “The latest attack in Balochistan and other terrorist incidents that took place in the past…we understand that the main sponsor of these [attacks] is your eastern neighbor.”

Lt Gen Chaudhry confirmed that three FC soldiers embraced martyrdom when the terrorists attacked Frontier Corps picket before the train was ambushed.

Giving a breakdown of the casualties in the incident, the DG ISPR revealed that 26 martyred train passengers included 18 security personnel from the army and the FC, three officials from Pakistan Railways and other departments and five civilians.

The military spokesperson said that they had five operation casualties.

The DG ISPR said that the terrorists stopped the Jaffar Express via an IED blast in hilly terrain where accessibility is difficult.

Lt Gen Chaudhry said the incident of Jaffar Express is a continuity of India's policy to sponsor terrorism in Pakistan.

“The incident of Jaffar Express is continuity of the same policy, the same sponsorship from where is it was engineered and from it was being pushed..,” he remarked.

Slamming the Indian media, the DG ISPR said that fake videos were created by using artificial intelligence (AI) to spread malicious propaganda regarding the Jaffar Express attack on social media platforms.

“Indian media spread propaganda by using the fake videos to exaggerate the situation,” he said.

“India media tried to create a narrative [against Pakistan] by airing fake videos,” he said, adding that the Indian media also played terrorists’ old videos taken from the social media.