Quetta, May 25 (NVI): Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) tonight said at least 82 Pakistani military personnel were killed and 121 injured in the suicide attack on a train carrying soldiers in Quetta in occupied Balochistan.
It said the attack was a “highly complex, organized, and joint operation”, involving Majeed Brigade, the fidayeen unit of the BLA, alongside its intelligence wing, ZIRAB.
The attack “targeted a specific military shuttle train transporting personnel of the occupying Pakistani army near Chaman Phatak on the outskirts of the Quetta Cantonment railway station,” said BLA spokesman Jeeyand Baloch in a statement to News Vibes of India (NVI).
“As a result of this devastating operation, 82 personnel of the occupying army were killed on the spot and more than 121 were injured,” he said.
Those killed and injured include JCOs (Junior Commissioned Officers), NCOs (Non-Commissioned Officers) regular soldiers, and newly recruited military personnel of the Pakistani army, he said.
The casualties belonged to the enemy military’s 4 Frontier Force Regiment, 10 Baloch Regiment, 25 Baloch Regiment, EME Centre, Infantry School, 25 Cavalry, 2 Punjab Regiment, 80 Field Artillery, 50 Signals, 63 Medium Artillery Regiment, 54 Medium Artillery Regiment.
“This fidayee mission was executed with immense bravery and intelligence by the BLA’s valiant fidayee commander, Bilal Shahwani,” the spokesman said, adding the BLA accepts full responsibility for this operation.
“This successful operation deals a heavy blow to the enemy military’s new and clandestine travel protocol, which it had enforced with utmost secrecy following the hijacking of the Jaffer Express and the attack by Majeed Brigade’s fidayee, Rafiq Bezinjo Baloch, at the Shal railway station on November 9, 2024.
“The November 9 attack had paralyzed the enemy’s traditional defense structure, after which the occupying Pakistani army changed its method of transferring military personnel directly from public railway stations to keep them out of the reach of the freedom fighters.
“Under the new protocol established out of intense fear, four to five specific railway carriages were moved inside the high-security zone of Quetta Cantonment under the cover of night, a few hours prior to the Jaffer Express’s departure.
“In the morning, military personnel going on leave or reporting for new deployments would board these carriages within the secure perimeter of the Cantonment.
“These carriages were then formed into a military shuttle train powered by a separate locomotive and brought out of the Cantonment to the Quetta railway station exactly half an hour before the Jaffer Express’s departure to be attached to the passenger train.
“The enemy assumed that by utilizing the internal infrastructure of the Cantonment, it could protect its movements from the sight of the freedom fighters,” he said. (NVI)
