2025 Jaffar Express hijacking: Difference between revisions

The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) is an [[Ethnic nationalism| ethnonationalist]] group established in 2000.<ref>{{cite web |title=Balochistan Liberation Army |url=https://mappingmilitants.org/profiles/balochistan-liberation-army |website=Mapping Militants |access-date=11 March 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241207120159/https://mappingmilitants.org/profiles/balochistan-liberation-army |archive-date=7 December 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref> Members of this organisation claim their goal is to attain regional independence from Pakistan and gain control over the area's natural resources, particularly oil and minerals. The BLA has previously targeted civilians and, more frequently, Pakistani security forces.<ref name="insurgents">{{cite web|last1=Sattar|first1=Abdul|last2=Ahmed|first2=Munir |date=12 March 2025|title=Pakistan's army says insurgents who attacked a passenger train killed 21 hostages while others freed|work=Associated Press|url=https://apnews.com/article/pakistan-balochistan-train-attack-militants-hostages-53d0eb29fecaa323800ac2db42ddb46c |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250312165207/https://apnews.com/article/pakistan-balochistan-train-attack-militants-hostages-53d0eb29fecaa323800ac2db42ddb46c |archive-date=12 March 2025|access-date=12 March 2025}}</ref> It has been officially banned in Pakistan since 2006.<ref>{{cite web |title=List of banned organisations in Pakistan |url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/456294/list-of-banned-organisations-in-pakistan |website=The Express Tribune |access-date=11 March 2025 |date=24 October 2012 |archive-date=5 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200405002521/https://tribune.com.pk/story/456294/list-of-banned-organisations-in-pakistan/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Following its ban, the group has perpetrated numerous attacks resulting in significant casualties; the most recent incident before the 2025 train hijacking was a suicide bombing at Quetta railway station in November 2024, which claimed 32 lives.<ref name="hostages">{{cite web|date=12 March 2025|title=Pakistan says more than 300 hostages rescued from hijacked train|work=Al Jazeera|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/3/12/pakistan-says-more-than-300-hostages-rescued-from-hijacked-train|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250312204056/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/3/12/pakistan-says-more-than-300-hostages-rescued-from-hijacked-train|archive-date=12 March 2025|access-date=12 March 2025}}</ref>

== References ==

{{Reflist}}