The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) has rejected the Pakistani military’s claim that it has successfully ended a hostage standoff aboard the hijacked Jaffar Express, accusing authorities of lying and spreading misinformation to conceal their alleged failures.
In a statement released on Thursday, BLA spokesperson Jeeyand Baloch strongly dismissed the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) announcement that Pakistani security forces stormed the hijacked train on Wednesday, killing 33 insurgents and rescuing all hostages.
“Pakistani security forces stormed the hijacked train, killing all 33 attackers involved,”
Major General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, the ISPR spokesperson, earlier told Pakistani media.
“We successfully rescued passengers, including women and children, without any civilian casualties.”
However, Mr Baloch characterized this version of events as “a failed attempt to cover up lies and defeat.” He insisted that “the ground reality is that the battle continues on multiple fronts, and the enemy is suffering heavy casualties and military losses.”
Mr Baloch emphasized that the Pakistani army has “neither achieved victory on the battlefield nor managed to save its hostage personnel.” He accused the state of “abandoning its own soldiers” and leaving them “to die as hostages.”
“The individuals the Pakistani state claims to have rescued were, in fact, voluntarily released by the BLA,”
Mr Baloch said,
“adhering strictly to our ethics of war and international standards.”
He described repeated defeats for Pakistani forces in “direct confrontations,” claiming they have resorted to “false claims and propaganda” to obscure “humiliating setbacks.”
The BLA says it offered the Pakistani state a “serious prisoner exchange” option but claims the government “remains fixated on war,” abandoning its troops to “die as hostages.” Mr Baloch also alleged that, out of frustration, Pakistani forces have begun targeting “unarmed Baloch civilians” in the area.
“Defeated army…has begun targeting the local Baloch population in an attempt to take revenge for its military helplessness,”
the statement read.
He challenged Pakistan to “accept the reality on the ground” and allow “independent journalists and impartial sources” into the conflict zone so the world could “witness the real losses suffered by the Pakistani army.” The spokesperson also warned that the conflict “has now gone beyond the control of the Pakistani state” and the “enemy’s defeat is inevitable.”
On Wednesday evening, the BLA said it executed 50 passengers in retaliation for what it described as the “latest act of military aggression by the occupying Pakistani forces.” The group claims it was holding 214 people, mostly security personnel, and had already executed 10 hostages on Tuesday after a Pakistani drone strike.
In a media statement earlier on Tuesday, the BLA issued a 48-hour ultimatum demanding the “unconditional release of Baloch political prisoners, forcibly disappeared persons, and national resistance activists.” The group warned it would execute five hostages every hour once the deadline ended, should Pakistani authorities fail to comply.