The Baloch Liberation Army claims to have executed 214 Pakistani military hostages after a 48-hour ultimatum expired. Pakistan's army reports 31 deaths in the train hijack, blaming Afghan militants. The situation in Balochistan is deteriorating, with political leaders suggesting 60% of Pakistan is no longer under state control. This crisis is being compared to the events leading up to the 1971 war.
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00:00Days after the Pakistan train hijack controversy, rebels are now claiming all 214 military hostages have been executed.
00:11214 Pakistani military hostages have been executed. Pakistan ignored our ultimatum.
00:17Pakistan refused to engage in the Hussie issues. Heavy fight still continues in the Baloch area.
00:23My colleague Gaurav Sawant is now joining me on the story. Gaurav, from the BLA we are now seeing a statement coming in which says 214.
00:35That's the total number of military hostages. All of them have been executed.
00:40There's a statement that has just come from Jain Baloch who's the Baloch Liberation Army spokesperson.
00:47And the spokesperson says that Pakistan army was given a 48-hour deadline to exchange prisoners of war,
00:55which was the last chance for the occupying Pakistan army to save the lives of its personnel.
01:01Now the Baloch spokesperson goes on to say that the Pakistan army displayed its traditional stubbornness and military arrogance,
01:09not only avoided serious negotiations but also turned a blind eye to ground realities.
01:15As a result of the stubbornness of the occupying army, all 214 hostage military personnel have been killed.
01:24Now this is a huge development if true because Pakistan army yesterday had claimed in a press conference that they had rescued most of the hostages they conceded.
01:34Some soldiers had died and some frontier corps personnel had died when the train was hijacked.
01:41They of course claimed the numbers that they gave did not kind of add up to the total.
01:47So we still do not know whether Baloch Liberation Army had hostages.
01:52They've taken Pakistani soldiers hostages. They claim they've killed 214.
01:57Pakistan army claims they've rescued most.
01:59So it remains to be seen what happens and whether any evidence is put out in public domain
02:05in terms of either pictures or statements either by the Pakistan army or by the Baloch Liberation Army.
02:12But the situation really appears to be taking a turn from the bad to the worse in Balochistan.
02:19Right Gaurav, we are also seeing this is Pakistan imploding.
02:23On one side there are statements coming in from the Pakistani army
02:27and on the other side we are seeing the Baloch army saying that the ultimatum was being given
02:33but the Pakistani army, the administration did not pay heed to it.
02:37So this is an implosion of sorts Gaurav that we are seeing in front of our eyes.
02:41Aishwarya you are absolutely right the situation is extremely extremely grim.
02:47There are political leaders in Pakistan who say the situation has never been worse
02:52except before the 1971 war where Bangladesh was split and another country was created.
03:00The situation is extremely grim for Pakistan.
03:04There are political leaders in Pakistan who have gone on record to say
03:0760% of Pakistan is no longer in the control of the Pakistani state.
03:13And when you look at the situation on ground, Balochistan is virtually 40% of the territory
03:19that is occupied by Pakistan as the Baloch people put it.
03:24So Balochistan is not in their control.
03:26Maulana Fazlur Rehman went on record to say that there are 7-8 districts in Balochistan
03:31that they declare independence.
03:33There is nothing that the Pakistani state can do about it.
03:36There is trouble in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
03:38There are multiple terror attacks that are taking place and they have intensified
03:42since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.
03:44So all along the Durand line, all along the Aspak border,
03:48there is trouble, there is trouble internally in Pakistan.
03:52There is political uncertainty in Pakistan with Imran Khan's forces,
03:57PTI workers and carders against the Pakistan army and state.
04:02So Pakistan is perhaps in its worst crisis since 1971 war right now.
04:09Right Gaurav, you are saying that this is sort of the worst crisis
04:12that we have seen at least in the past 50 years with regards to Pakistan.
04:16Different statements Gaurav are coming in.
04:19Do you believe from either of the sides we could get some kind of support,
04:23some kind of videos to back the claims that they are making?
04:27Well, information war is extremely significant as the nature of warfare changes
04:34and you know the Baloch liberation army, they have actually come together.
04:38Very recently there was a meeting in which five separate organizations
04:43who were fighting the Pakistani state in Balochistan,
04:46the Baloch liberation army, the Baloch republican guards, the Baloch national guards,
04:51they have all come together and formed one organization called the BRAS
04:57and they call themselves the Baloch national army.
05:00And there are some indications that indicate that all these forces
05:05have not only joined hands in terms of their intelligence inputs,
05:09in terms of their logistics, but also in terms of operations
05:13to carry out such a major attack on the Pakistani state,
05:17taking the Jaffar Express, you know, hijacking it and then taking hostages.
05:22So that appears to be a major threat and what is not reported very extensively,
05:28while Jaffar Express was being hijacked,
05:30there were seven or eight simultaneous attacks that were going on
05:34in various parts of Balochistan and also in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
05:38So in case they've made common cause with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan
05:42in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, then the trouble will only intensify
05:46and with images that are likely to be put out, with videos that are likely to be put out,
05:51it could be very, very embarrassing for the Pakistan army
05:54because when Pakistan army claims rules of the game have changed,
05:57it could only indicate that there will be more repression of the people of Balochistan
06:02that has been carried out in multiple waves in the past, including in 2006,
06:06when Nawab Akbar Bukti was assassinated by the Pakistani forces under Parvez Musharraf
06:11or before that when Tikka Khan did that in 1972-73.
06:15So it remains to be seen what happens next, but the situation is extremely grim for Pakistan.
06:20Gaurav, please stay on with me, we've got some more breaking news coming in
06:23with regards to Pakistan.
06:24It's the death toll in the Pakistan train hijacking case which has now risen to 31.
06:37Pakistani army has come out with a statement and they are saying
06:4031 have been killed in the Pakistan train hijack case.
06:43They in fact are now saying terrorism is linked to Afghanistan.
06:47Afghani militants carried out the hijack.
06:50This is a statement coming in from Pakistan.
06:54So these are the count of the division of this 26.
07:02Other than that, we had operational casualties which were not part of the train.
07:08As I said earlier, there were three F.C. soldiers who embraced shahadat
07:14once their picket was attacked.
07:16And one F.C. soldier of Ghaza Band Scout embraced shahadat
07:20and one F.C. soldier who was part of the duty on this train, he also embraced shahadat.
07:26So we have so far five operational casualties.
07:30My colleague Gaurav is still with me on the story.
07:34Gaurav, from this statement, the only thing that I could personally make out
07:37was that they were trying to divert the attention
07:40and they were saying that only 31 casualties have been reported.
07:44So this is Pakistan now raising fingers, pointing fingers at Afghanistan
07:47and saying it's the Afghani militants who carried out the hijack attack.
08:17They put out a lot of drone camera images and they gave details of how
08:22they had carried out counter Baloch fighter operations in Balochistan,
08:27how the train was hijacked, how people were rescued, all of that.
08:31But he did concede yesterday that the Baloch fighters had released some passengers
08:37but he said that all of that was narrative building.
08:40They've now increased the number of people who were killed from 25,
08:44which they initially said 21 and 4, to now 31.
08:48But numbers are still not adding up for the Pakistan army
08:51and perhaps they would in a couple of days.
08:54But you're absolutely right. Now they're blaming Afghans.
08:57They claim Afghan terrorists have done this and they're saying that
09:01all the bases of the Baloch Liberation Army are in Afghanistan.
09:05Imagine this is the same Pakistan that was celebrating when Taliban took over Afghanistan.
09:11Then DG ISI had gone to Serena Hotel, was having coffee there and saying
09:18all will be good and all is well and worse to that effect.
09:21But it couldn't be further from the truth.
09:23And that just shows how Pakistan army thinking remains extremely tactical
09:28and not strategic and they haven't been able to protect their own country.
09:32And the army, there's a criticism that's made often that when the army
09:36sells cement and cornflakes and corner plots, then they're not a professional army
09:42because then they're not going in for patriotism.
09:44They're only looking at profits and therefore unable to fight.