Pakistan train hijack: Militants with bomb vests sitting next to hostages

Pakistan's forces on Wednesday refrained from launching frontal attacks inside a train hijacked by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) militants. 

Despite the authorities' efforts, 250 passengers are still being held hostage.

Pakistan's junior interior minister told a television channel that the security operation was complicated because of the remote location of the train and concerns about hostage safety. The militants are wearing vests loaded with explosives and are sitting next to the passengers.

The BLA derailed the train in a tunnel in Bolan in Pakistan's Balochistan province on Tuesday. 

Its spokesman Jeeyand Baloch has asked Pakistan to release jailed militants in exchange for the passengers.

30 militants had been killed on Tuesday, and around 190 passengers of the total 450 were rescued.

Helicopters were backing up Pakistani forces in the rugged region. Rescued passengers were being sent to their hometowns and the injured were being treated at hospitals in the Mach district.

Muhammad Ashraf, who was on the train, said some of the passengers died in the attack, including the train driver.

Source: Agencies