Islamabad, Pakistan – Pakistan on Friday claimed that the hijacking of the Jaffar Express train earlier this week was carried out by “terrorists” who were communicating with “handlers in Afghanistan”, while alleging that India was the mastermind behind it.

“We must understand that in this terrorist incident in Balochistan, and others before, the main sponsor is eastern neighbour [India],” Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, the director general for the military’s media wing Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said during a news conference in Islamabad.

Chaudhry also referred to the media coverage carried out by Indian mainstream channels, which relied on videos shared by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), the separatist group responsible for the attack, and accused them of using images generated by artificial intelligence or old incidents.

During the briefing which lasted more than an hour, Chaudhry, along with Balochistan’s Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti, offered some details of the military operation — named Operation Green Bolan — that culminated in the release of hundreds of passengers from the train following a 36-hour standoff that began on March 11.

According to Chaudhry, a total of 354 passengers were rescued, while 26 passengers and security officials were killed. In addition, 33 fighters belonging to the BLA were also killed.

While the military had earlier said that 21 civilians or security personnel had been killed, Chaudhry stated that as security officials cleared the area, more injured individuals were found, some of whom later died.

Of the 26 killed, 18 belonged to the army or paramilitary forces, three were railway staff members and five were civilian passengers.

‘Aerial Units’ for reconnaissance

Chaudhry said that four hours after the train had departed from Quetta, the BLA attackers intercepted the train 32km (20 miles) from Sibbi city, just before it entered a tunnel in the Bolan Pass region, known for its rugged, mountainous landscape.

“The BLA terrorists intercepted the train using an improvised explosive device. Before that, they began their raid in large numbers and encountered a paramilitary checkpoint, eliminating three soldiers there. Once the train was stopped, they kept the women and children inside while taking the men outside as hostages,” he said.

“As soon as the incident happened, we activated our response teams and started to monitor the situation while maintaining an appropriate distance,” Chaudhry said.

While Chaudhry did not disclose specifics, visual evidence from the briefing indicated that the Pakistani military relied heavily on drones to monitor the situation.

Intelligence sources also confirmed that reconnaissance teams and aerial units were deployed within an hour of the train being stopped.

The general said that the BLA segregated passengers based on ethnicity, a fact that was confirmed to Al Jazeera by survivors, as well.

“They divided people into smaller groups based on ethnicity. While a large number of BLA fighters moved away to their hideouts in the mountain, a smaller group remained with the hostages,” he said. Many of the fighters who remained at the site “were suicide bombers,” he added.

Chaudhry stated that intelligence monitoring revealed the abductors were using walkie-talkies to allegedly communicate with their “handlers in Afghanistan.”

How did the operation unfold?

The military said that on the night of March 11, more than eight hours after the hijacking, a group of women, children, and elderly passengers were released, who walked to the nearest train station, 6km (four miles) away.

Intelligence monitoring by security agencies at the time suggested the potential presence of suicide bombers among the hostages. On the morning of March 12, Chaudhry said, military snipers killed several BLA fighters, enabling some hostages to escape amid the chaos.

The main ground operation was then prepared, to be led by the Zarrar Company, an elite unit of the Army’s Special Services Group (SSG), which specialises in operations against armed groups.

“It is a highly trained unit uniquely equipped for counterterrorism situations, including hostage crises. The company commander is a major-ranked officer,” an intelligence source said.

Showing a video clip, Chaudhry noted that as the operation commenced, many hostages sitting outside the train ran for safety.

“By midday on March 12, Zarrar Company had completed its situational assessment. Tracking BLA communications revealed potential suicide bombers were stationed near the hostages. They were eliminated first, after which the troops made their way inside the train,” the general added.

“It demonstrates the professionalism and competence of our troops that there was not a single hostage casualty during the rescue operation,” he said.

All the fighters were killed. Security officials told Al Jazeera that they could not capture anyone alive due to the nature of the operation.

“As a matter of policy, capturing insurgents remains important to our doctrine, but a hostage situation offers little room for that. If you want to rescue the hostages, actions must be precise and surgical,” a security official said, requesting anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the media.

How have India and Afghanistan responded?

Following the news conference, neither India nor Afghanistan issued an immediate response.

However, earlier on Friday, officials from both countries strongly reacted to Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement on Thursday, which also blamed both nations.

“India has been involved in terrorism in Pakistan. In the attack on Jaffar Express, the terrorists were in contact with their handlers and ring leaders in Afghanistan,” Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan said during his weekly news briefing in Islamabad yesterday.

Khan added that intercepted communications confirmed links between the attackers and Afghanistan.

“The terrorists have safe havens in Afghanistan, and Pakistan has repeatedly urged the Afghan interim government to prevent groups like the BLA from using its soil for terrorism,” he said.

The Indian government categorically rejected Pakistan’s allegations.

“We reject the baseless accusations made by Pakistan. The whole world knows where the epicentre of global terrorism is. Pakistan should look within itself instead of blaming others for its internal problems and failures,” Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a statement on Friday.

Afghanistan also denied any connection between the attackers and its territory.

“Pakistan should focus on its security and resolving its internal issues instead of making irresponsible statements,” a statement from Kabul read.

The Taliban-led government’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Abdul Qahar Balkhi also urged Pakistan on social media to “focus on resolving its security and internal issues instead of making such irresponsible comments”.

Balkhi also claimed that no BLA members were present in Afghanistan and denied any connection between the group and Afghanistan.

Last month, a United Nations report stated that the Afghan Taliban, in power since August 2021, provides support to the Pakistan Taliban (Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP), which has carried out multiple attacks in Pakistan.

It further said that the BLA reportedly has ties with both the Pakistan Taliban and the ISIL affiliate in Khorasan Province (ISKP), indicating a broader convergence of armed groups with distinct, but intersecting agendas.