Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (DG ISPR) Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry on Friday termed Jaffar Express attack “continuation of Indian-sponsored terrorism” in Pakistan.

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.”

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

In today’s presser, Lt Gen Chaudhry confirmed that three FC soldiers embraced martyrdom when the terrorists attacked Frontier Corps picket before the train was ambushed.

Army, FC personnel among martyred hostages

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.

He further said that the death toll from the terror attack could rise further as 37 out of the 354 passengers were injured.

The military spokesperson said that they had five operation causalities.

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

Meanwhile, a media warfare led by India media began in support of the terrorists, said the DG ISPR.

Lt Gen Chaudhry said the incident of Jaffar Express is continuity of the India 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 Jaffar Express attack on the 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.

“A [terrorists] activity was underway in [Balochistan] and the other activity was being run by Indian media,” the military spokesperson said.

Briefing about the hijacking incident with the help of maps, Lt Gen Chaudhry said that the terrorists were in different groups, adding that one of the militant groups kept the women and children inside the train.

“Rest of the passengers were brought outside the train by terrorists and divided into groups,” he added.

In a bid to create a “false impression” of humanitarian values, the militants released a group of hostages in the evening, he added.

However, some of the hostages managed to escape when they got the chance, he revealed, adding that the terrorists also opened fire on the fleeing passengers.

The Lt Gen said that the terrorists were in contact with their handlers in Afghanistan.

“From the terrorists’ communication, we came to know that there were suicide bombers among them,” he added.

All terrorists were eliminated during a successful and complex operation with 36 hours, Lt Gen Chaudhry said adding that terrorists could not harm anyone during the final clearance operation.

‘Terrorists commanders released from Afghan jails’

During his interaction with the journalists, Balochistan CM condemned the terrorist attack on the Jaffar Express and paid tribute to the security forces for releasing the hostages during a successful operation against the militants. He also thanked the international community for condemning the terror incident.

“We’re in an intelligence-driven war waged against Pakistan by Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and other hostile agencies through Afghanistan,” he added.

“Terrorists commanders were released from Afghan jails,” he revealed.

The chief minister said that there were divisions among the terrorist groups, however, RAW united them.

RAW brokered an alliance between TTP, BLA and other terrorist groups in the province, he added.

“Terrorists commanders were released from Afghan jails,” he said, adding that Afghan soil is being used to launch terror attacks inside Pakistani territory.

Lambasting PTI, Balochistan’s chief executive said that the terrorist elements were released during the tenure of former prime minister Imran Khan.

Moving on to the issue of missing persons, the chief minister said that the issue was being used as a propaganda tool.

“There are missing persons in the US, UK and other countries in the region,” he added.

CM Bugti said they were not disgruntled Baloch but “terrorists”.