UPDATE - Militants fire at train in SW Pakistan, claim to have taken 100 passengers hostage

UPDATES WITH DETAILS

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) - A gun battle was underway between security forces and heavily armed militants who have claimed to have taken 100 passengers hostage after attacking a train in southwestern Pakistan on Tuesday.

Outlawed Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), in a statement to local media, claimed responsibility for the brazen attack.

It claimed that its militants have taken more than 100 passengers, including security personnel, hostage.

Security sources confirmed the incident, saying the hostages included women and children.

The security operation will continue till the "elimination of the last terrorist," they added.

The incident occurred in a hilly area of remote Bolan district in southwestern Balochistan province when a group of militants detonated bombs on the railway track and opened fire on the train, injuring the driver critically, an official confirmed.

Shahid Rind, a spokesman for the Balochistan government told reporters that additional troops have been dispatched to the site, where security forces are already engaged in a gun battle with the attackers.

Muhammad Kashif, a senior railway official said the train, which is being held just outside a tunnel, comprises nine coaches, with around 500 passengers on board.

Unconfirmed reports suggested that there were several casualties in the attack.

An emergency has been imposed at the nearby hospitals, while ambulances and security forces were on their way to the site of the incident.

The BLA and some other groups have long been involved in attacks on security forces and citizens from other provinces.

They have been fighting for the "liberation" of Balochistan, which they contend was forcibly incorporated into Pakistan following the end of British colonial rule in united India in 1947.

Condemning the attack, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said: “The beasts who fire on innocent passengers do not deserve any concessions.”