Militants kill 10 people after hijacking passenger train, taking hostages in western Pakistan, officials say

Quetta, Pakistan CNN —

Separatist militants killed at least 10 people after hijacking a train carrying hundreds of passengers in Pakistan’s southwestern province of Balochistan on Tuesday, according to government and railway officials.

Nine of those killed were security personnel, Imran Hayat, a senior railway official, told CNN Tuesday night, adding that a train driver was also killed in the attack.

It is unclear exactly when the deaths occurred. Earlier Tuesday, Balochistan government spokesperson Shahid Rind told CNN that “intense gunfire” had been reported on the train. Tuesday evening, security sources not authorized to speak on the record told CNN that security forces had “surrounded the terrorists” and an exchange of fire had taken place. The security sources added that the militants were using “women and children as shields.”

The train, known as the Jaffer Express, was stopped by the militants as it reached a tunnel on Tuesday afternoon, officials said. The train was on its way from Quetta in Balochistan, Pakistan’s westernmost province, to the northwestern city of Peshawar.

“Armed individuals stopped Jaffer Express inside Tunnel No. 8 (in Bolan),” Muhammad Kashif, Quetta Railways’ controller, told CNN.

The train, which departed from Quetta at 9 a.m. local time, had nine coaches and was carrying approximately 450 passengers, Kashif said.

By Tuesday night, 104 hostages had been freed by security forces, the security sources told CNN. Those released included 58 men, 31 women and 15 children, the security sources said, adding that injured passengers had been taken to hospital and that work to rescue the remaining hostages was still underway.

The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), a militant separatist group, has