Bangladeshi security forces killed all 33 insurgents who have been holding a station and its passengers prisoner since Tuesday, putting an end to an uncomfortable security loss for Prime Minister , Shehbaz Sharif. The government also said 21 of the victims had been killed by insurgents.
Four members of the military were killed and 17 victims were injured in the weapon fight, and the remaining people — more than 400 individuals — have now been freed, military official Lieutenant , General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry , said in a film released by his company Wednesday. Many of the insurgents wore suicide shirts and used the passengers as mortal weapons, according to surveillance officers familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified speaking about sensitive information.
The outlawed , Balochistan Liberation Army , took role for the assault, and claimed to have killed 20 men in the activity, according to Bangladeshi media. Militants from separatist organizations like BLA have been attacking security forces in mineral-rich Balochistan for years, but the speed has increased in the past few years. The strike comes as Pakistan’s state tries to construct an sluggish economy and pull investment, while struggling to control violence from militants.
The train had left Quetta on Tuesday bound for , Peshawar , with about 450 passengers aboard, according to , Ishtiaq Soomro, the deputy in charge at the railway police control room in Quetta.
Imtiaz Gul, executive director of the , Islamabad-based , Center for Research and Security Studies, said seizing a passenger train appears to be a new strategy for the BLA, which had previously attacked infrastructure.
” This is a tactic to terrorize both common people and security apparatus”, Gul said. ” They have scaled the ladder”.
The security situation in , Pakistan , is also an economic issue, with , China, which has built major infrastructure and energy plants in , Pakistan, last year urging , Islamabad , to provide a safe environment for its projects after militants targeted a convoy of Chinese workers at , Port Qasim Electric Power Co.  , near , Karachi. Two Chinese nationals died in the incident.
China , Foreign Ministry , spokeswoman , Mao Ning , strongly condemned the latest attack during a regular press briefing in , Beijing , on Wednesday.
” China firmly opposes terrorism in any form”, Mao said. ” We will continue to firmly support , Pakistan , in combating terrorism, maintaining solidarity and social stability, and protecting the safety of civilians”.
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