Opinion | Jaffar Express Siege: Four Myths Pakistan Can No Longer Hide
The lies—about territorial control, economic inclusion, military dominance, and waning insurgency—reveal a nation grappling with denial as much as dissent
On March 11, 2025, separatist militants from the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) hijacked the Jaffar Express, a passenger train carrying over 400 people, in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province.
The attackers blew up a railway track in the Bolan district, opened fire, and took hundreds hostage, plunging the nation into a 36-hour ordeal that ended with 21 passengers, four soldiers, and all 33 militants dead, according to Pakistan’s military. The operation, concluded on March 12, saw security forces rescue over 300 survivors, but the sheer scale of the attack—an audacious assault on a civilian target—has reverberated far beyond the rugged hills of Balochistan.
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Prime minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the “heinous" act, vowing it would not shake Pakistan’s resolve for peace, yet the incident lays bare a stark reality: the state’s narrative about its internal security and relationship with Balochistan is riddled with falsehoods.
This train attack, the first of its kind by the BLA, marks a chilling escalation in a decades-long insurgency that Pakistan has struggled to contain. For years, Islamabad has painted a picture of control, resilience, and progress in Balochistan, a resource-rich yet impoverished province that borders Iran and Afghanistan.
Official statements tout military successes, economic development, and a weakening separatist threat. But the Jaffar Express siege shatters these claims, exposing four lies at the heart of Pakistan’s internal security framework and its fraught ties with Balochistan. These lies—about territorial control, economic inclusion, military dominance, and waning insurgency—reveal a nation grappling with denial as much as dissent.
Pakistan Has Full Control Over Its Territory
The most foundational claim of any sovereign state is its ability to govern its land and protect its citizens. Pakistan has long asserted that its security forces maintain iron-clad control over its territory, including restive regions like Balochistan. The military’s swift response to the train attack—deploying troops, air forces, and special units to neutralise the threat—might seem to bolster this narrative. Yet, the very fact that militants could orchestrate such a large-scale operation in broad daylight undermines it entirely.
The Jaffar Express was not ambushed in a remote outpost but on a major rail route connecting Quetta to Peshawar, a lifeline for civilian and economic activity. The BLA’s ability to blow up tracks, seize a train with over 400 passengers, and hold it for over a day exposes gaping vulnerabilities in Pakistan’s security apparatus. Balochistan’s 900-kilometer border with Iran and proximity to Afghanistan have long made it a porous region, with militants, smugglers, and arms flowing freely across ungoverned spaces. The province’s mountainous terrain, coupled with sparse infrastructure, has historically defied centralised control, but this attack suggests a deeper failure: the state’s inability to secure even its critical arteries.
Official rhetoric often blames external actors—India, Iran, or others—for stoking unrest, yet the BLA’s homegrown grievances belie this excuse. The group’s demands during the siege, including a prisoner exchange for “political detainees", reflect a domestic insurgency rooted in decades of neglect and repression. If Pakistan truly controlled its territory, such an operation would have been thwarted long before it unfolded. Instead, the train attack serves as a glaring testament to the limits of Islamabad’s authority, a reality that no amount of military bravado can obscure.
Economic Development Has Pacified Balochistan
Pakistan has leaned heavily on the promise of economic progress to justify its grip on Balochistan, pointing to projects like the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a flagship of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative. Billions of dollars have flowed into the province, funding highways, ports like Gwadar, and energy infrastructure. The government claims these investments have brought jobs, connectivity, and stability, eroding the appeal of separatist movements. The train attack, however, exposes this as a hollow lie.
Balochistan remains Pakistan’s poorest province, despite its vast reserves of natural gas, copper, and gold. Local communities see little benefit from CPEC, with most contracts awarded to outsiders and profits siphoned to Islamabad or foreign investors. The Baloch, who make up the ethnic majority in the province, accuse the state of exploitation, a grievance echoed in the BLA’s rhetoric. The Jaffar Express siege, targeting a symbol of state connectivity, was as much an economic statement as a military one—a rejection of a development model that prioritises strategic interests over human welfare.
Far from pacifying the region, economic disparities have fuelled resentment. Unemployment is rampant, infrastructure outside CPEC corridors is crumbling, and basic services like healthcare and education remain elusive for many. The BLA’s ability to mobilise dozens of fighters and sustain a high-profile attack suggests a support base undeterred by promises of prosperity. If economic development were truly winning hearts and minds, the insurgency would be shrinking, not escalating. Instead, the train hijacking reveals a province where poverty and alienation continue to drive rebellion, mocking the state’s narrative of progress.
Military Has Crushed Insurgency
Pakistan’s military has long claimed supremacy over Baloch separatists, citing operations that have killed or captured hundreds of militants over the years. Official statements after the train attack reinforced this line, with the army proudly declaring that all 33 BLA fighters were eliminated. Lieutenant General Ahmad Sharif, an army spokesman, hailed the operation as a success, framing it as proof of the military’s resolve and capability. Yet, this triumphant tone masks a troubling truth: the insurgency is far from crushed.
The BLA’s train hijacking was not the act of a dying movement but a bold escalation, showcasing tactical sophistication and a willingness to strike civilian targets. The group’s ability to assemble dozens of fighters, arm them with rockets and explosives, and execute a coordinated assault suggests a level of organisation and resilience that contradicts the military’s boasts. Past operations may have weakened individual commanders or cells, but they have not dismantled the broader network or its ideological pull. The BLA’s claim of killing over 100 “enemy personnel" during the siege—though likely exaggerated—signals a confidence that defies the narrative of defeat.
Moreover, the military’s heavy-handed tactics have often backfired. Disappearances, extrajudicial killings, and mass detentions in Balochistan have radicalised new generations, swelling the ranks of groups like the BLA. The train attack’s demand for a prisoner swap highlights this cycle: for every militant killed, others rise, fuelled by a sense of injustice. The military may win battles, as it did on March 12, but it is losing the war for legitimacy. The insurgency’s persistence, culminating in this unprecedented strike, exposes the lie that brute force has brought peace to Balochistan.
The Baloch Insurgency is Losing Support
Perhaps the most convenient lie Pakistan peddles is that the Baloch insurgency is a fringe movement, disconnected from the province’s people. The government portrays the BLA and similar groups as terrorists rejected by the populace, clinging to a fading cause. The train attack, however, challenges this assertion, hinting at a level of tacit or active support that sustains such operations.
The BLA’s ability to plan and execute a hijacking of this magnitude required intelligence, logistics, and local knowledge—resources that likely depended on some degree of community backing. While the group’s killing of 21 civilian hostages may alienate some Baloch, its broader narrative of resisting state oppression still resonates in a province scarred by marginalisation. Survivors of the siege recounted the militants’ discipline and focus, traits that suggest a movement with purpose, not desperation. Security analysts have warned that civilian deaths could weaken the BLA’s base, but the attack’s scale implies it retains enough sympathy to operate unchecked in Baloch heartlands.
Pakistan’s refusal to address Baloch grievances—land rights, resource equity, and political representation—has kept the insurgency alive. The state’s reliance on coercion over dialogue has deepened distrust, ensuring that groups like the BLA can draw recruits and refuge from disaffected communities. The audacity of the train attack suggests a movement emboldened by its cause, rather than a desperate attempt to survive. If the insurgency were truly losing support, it would not have the capacity to paralyse a province and defy a national army. This lie, more than any other, exposes the chasm between Islamabad’s rhetoric and Balochistan’s reality.
The author, a columnist and research scholar, teaches journalism at St. Xavier’s College (autonomous), Kolkata. His handle on X is @sayantan_gh. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18’s views.
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