NEW DELHI : India dismissed Pakistan’s accusations of involvement in the recent Baloch insurgent attack on a Quetta-Peshawar passenger train, urging Islamabad to introspect instead of diverting blame. The deadly assault, orchestrated by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), resulted in 21 passengers being taken hostage, while at least 33 insurgents were neutralized in the counter-operation.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) firmly rejected the allegations made by Pakistan’s government and military, which claimed that the Baloch terrorists had received backing from India and Taliban-governed Afghanistan. The assault, the most significant by Baloch rebels in nearly two decades, has further strained the already tense Indo-Pak relations.
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“We categorically refute these unfounded allegations. The entire world is aware of the epicenter of terrorism. Instead of scapegoating others for its own internal failures, Pakistan should focus on resolving its domestic issues,” stated Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for India’s MEA.
Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesperson, Shafqat Ali Khan, directly accused India of orchestrating the attack. “India has actively sponsored terrorist activities within Pakistan, including this assault on the Jaffar Express,” he claimed, further alleging that the attackers had been coordinating with handlers based in Afghanistan.
The accusations intensified on Friday when Pakistan’s military spokesperson, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, echoed these claims during a press briefing. He asserted that the weapons used in the attack originated from Afghanistan and India. However, conflicting reports emerged from Pakistani media, with earlier accounts stating that at least four members of the Frontier Corps lost their lives while securing the train during the two-day operation, which started on Tuesday and concluded on Wednesday.
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The BLA, which the United States designated a terrorist group in 2019 during Donald Trump’s presidency, is one of the most prominent terrorist factions in the decades-long Baloch insurgency. Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest province and rich in natural resources, has been a hub of resistance against state control since the country’s formation.
Various Baloch clans, including the Marris, Bugtis, and Bizenjos, have historically opposed the central government’s policies. The last major crackdown on Baloch rebels occurred in 2006, during General Pervez Musharraf’s presidency, when Nawab Akbar Bugti and his supporters were killed in an airstrike. Since then, a younger generation of rebels has regrouped under more radical banners such as the BLA, while many of the traditional Baloch leadership now live in exile in Europe and the Gulf nations.
The recent train attack has once again highlighted the volatility of the Baloch conflict, with Pakistan seeking to link external actors to its domestic turmoil, a move India has strongly condemned.
