What's behind the surge in attacks and train hijacking in Pakistan’s restive southwest?

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s neglected southwestern province of Balochistan has been the scene of a yearslong insurgency, with a dramatic uptick in attacks in recent years underscoring the struggles the government in Islamabad faces in dealing with myriad security threats.

The seizure Tuesday of a passenger train by the outlawed Baluch Liberation Army, or BLA, took the insurgency to a new level with the first such large-scale operation by the militant group.

The militants took hundreds of passengers aboard the Jafer Express hostage before Pakistani forces said Wednesday that they had killed all 50 of the attackers. The military said the assailants killed 21 passengers, and that all the remaining passengers were rescued.

Balochistan is Pakistan's largest province and the country's least populated. It’s also a hub for the country’s ethnic Baloch minority, whose members say they face discrimination by the government.

The separatists have fought since the early 2000s for autonomy — if not outright independence — from Islamabad and for a greater share of natural resources that the undeveloped province abounds in, such as natural gas, oil and minerals.

Over the years, the BLA has grown in strength, prompting some analysts to say the group today compares to the Pakistani Taliban in terms of the threat it poses for the country.

The BLA has regularly targeted Pakistani security forces and has also in the past attacked civilians, including Chinese nationals working on multibillion-dollar projects related to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. It has also staged attacks beyond Balochistan, including in Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city.

Although the government insists it has significantly curbed violence, attacks in Balochistan have not abated. Islamic militant groups also operate in the province.

The BLA, which both Pakistan and the United States have designated a terrorist organization, is estimated to have around 3,000 fighters, promptly claimed responsibility for the attack on Tuesday.

The group seeks to establish an independent Baloch state, encompassing territories in Pakistan, Iran, and Afghanistan where the Baloch ethnic group lives.

Islamabad maintains that the BLA is getting support from neighboring India, a rival and like Pakistan, a nuclear-armed nation — though New Delhi has dismissed the allegation. The Pakistani government also claims that there is a degree of cooperation between the BLA and the country's top militant group, the Pakistani Taliban.

Analysts say the BLA has grown more emboldened since the Pakistani Taliban ended a cease-fire with the government in November 2022, encouraging more militant attacks across the country.

Separately from the rivalry with India, Pakistan has also had a tense relationship with neighboring Iran, contributing to the insecurity in Baluchistan.

The two countries share a 900-kilometer (560-mile) border, which remains largely ungoverned, allowing smugglers and militant groups to move about freely. Both governments accuse each other of harboring or tolerating insurgent groups.

Economic factors also drive the unrest, said Khan, the analyst, adding that it does not bode well for Pakistan's economy.

“Who will come and invest in Pakistan if we keep seeing such attacks,” he said.

Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative has poured billions of dollars into Pakistan but it has also alienated the Baloch minority further. They say Islamabad is exploiting Balochistan’s resources while neglecting the local communities.

However, Syed Muhammad Ali, a security analyst, said that while the train attack may have provided the BLA with “instant public and media attention,” the civilian deaths from the attack will likely "weaken their support base” among the province's population.

An injured passenger rescued by security forces from a passenger train attacked by insurgents arrives at a railway station in Much near Quetta, Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

Ambulances park outside a railway station where rescued and injured passenger of a train attacked by insurgents are brought in Much, Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

An injured passenger rescued by security forces from a passenger train attacked by insurgents arrive at a railway station in Much near Quetta, Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

Ambulances park outside a railway station where rescued and injured passenger of a train attacked by insurgents are brought in Much, Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

An injured passenger rescued by security forces from a passenger train attacked by insurgents arrive at a railway station in Much near Quetta, Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

Passengers rescued by security forces from a passenger train attacked by insurgents eat food upon their arrival at a railway station in Quetta, Pakistan, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Arshad Butt)

Passengers rescued by security forces from a passenger train attacked by insurgents comfort each other upon their arrival at a railway station in Quetta, Pakistan, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Arshad Butt)

Passengers rescued by security forces from a passenger train attacked by insurgents arrive at a railway station in Quetta, Pakistan, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Arshad Butt)

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump said he ordered a series of airstrikes on Yemen's capital, Sanaa, on Saturday, promising to use “overwhelming lethal force” until Iranian-backed Houthi rebels cease their attacks on shipping along a vital maritime corridor. The Houthis said nine civilians were killed.

“Our brave Warfighters are right now carrying out aerial attacks on the terrorists’ bases, leaders, and missile defenses to protect American shipping, air, and naval assets, and to restore Navigational Freedom,” Trump said in a social media post. “No terrorist force will stop American commercial and naval vessels from freely sailing the Waterways of the World.”

He also warned Iran to stop supporting the rebel group, promising to hold the country “fully accountable” for the actions of its proxy. It comes two weeks after the U.S leader sent a letter to Iranian leaders offering a path to restarting bilateral talks between the countries on Iran’s advancing nuclear weapons program that Trump has said he will not allow to become operational.

The Houthis reported a series of explosions in their territory Saturday evening. Images circulating online showed plumes of black smoke over the area of the Sanaa airport complex, which includes a sprawling military facility.

At least nine people were killed, said Anees al-Asbahi, spokesman for the Houthi-run health ministry. In a statement on social media, he said another nine were wounded.

Nasruddin Amer, deputy head of the Houthi media office, said the airstrikes won’t deter them and they would retaliate against the U.S. “Sanaa will remain Gaza’s shield and support and will not abandon it no matter the challenges,” he added on social media.

The airstrikes come a few days after the Houthis said they would resume attacks on Israeli vessels sailing in waters off Yemen in response to Israel’s blockade on Gaza. There have been no Houthi attacks reported since then.

Earlier this month, Israel halted all aid coming into Gaza and warned of “additional consequences” for Hamas if their fragile ceasefire in the war isn’t extended as negotiations continue over starting a second phase.

The Houthis had described their warning as taking hold in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Arabian Sea.

The Houthis targeted over 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two vessels and killing four sailors, during their campaign targeting military and civilian ships between the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in late 2023 and January of this year, when a tenuous ceasefire in Gaza took effect.

The attacks raised the Houthis’ profile as they faced economic problems and launched a crackdown targeting dissent and aid workers at home amid Yemen’s decade-long stalemated war that’s torn apart the Arab world’s poorest nation.

The Houthi media office said the U.S. strikes hit “a residential neighborhood” in Sanaa’s northern district of Shouab. Sanaa residents said at least four airstrikes rocked the Eastern Geraf neighborhood in Shouab district, terrifying women and children in the area.

“The explosions were very strong,” said Abdallah al-Alffi. “It was like an earthquake.”

The United States, Israel and Britain have previously hit Houthi-held areas in Yemen. Israel’s military declined to comment.

Saturday's operation against the Houthis was conducted solely by the U.S., according to a U.S. official. It was the first strike on the Yemen-based Houthis under the second Trump administration, and it comes after a period of relative quiet in the region.

Such broad-based and pre-planned missile strikes against the Houthis were done multiple times by the Biden administration in response to frequent attacks by the Houthis against commercial and military vessels in the region.

The USS Harry S. Truman carrier strike group, which includes the carrier, three Navy destroyers and one cruiser, are in the Red Sea and were part of the mission. The USS Georgia cruise missile submarine has also been operating in the region.

Trump announced the strikes as he spent the day at his Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida.

“These relentless assaults have cost the U.S. and World Economy many BILLIONS of Dollars while, at the same time, putting innocent lives at risk,” Trump said.

Baldor reported from Washington and Magdy reported from Cairo. AP White House Correspondent Zeke Miller contributed from Washington.

President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, March 4, 2025. (Win McNamee/Pool Photo via AP)

Smoke rises from a location reportedly struck by U.S. airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman