21 passengers killed on Pakistani train after hundreds taken hostage
Mazhar Chandio/Anadolu via Getty Images
(LONDON) — Twenty-one passengers were killed after a train in Pakistan was attacked and hundreds were taken hostage by the militant Balochistan Liberation Army on Tuesday, according to the Pakistani military.
Four military members conducting a rescue operation and 33 terrorists, members of the BLA, have been killed, according to the military.
The military operation has ended, according to a Pakistani military official.
On Tuesday, a U.S. official told ABC News at least 450 people were taken hostage on the train and said six Pakistani military personnel were killed.
The separatist militant group claimed it had taken 182 military and security personnel hostage on the train, according to a post on Telegram, but said they had released the majority of the civilians on board. The group claimed a higher number of casualties in the attack, saying they killed 20 Pakistani military personnel and shot down a drone.
The BLA had threatened to kill all the hostages if Pakistan’s military tries to rescue them, the official said.
The BLA blew up part of the track, forcing the train to stop, before they boarded and took control, according to the official.
The attack happened in mountainous area right before a tunnel, making a rescue very difficult, they said.
Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi condemned the attack and said the government would not make any concessions to “beasts who fire on innocent passengers.”
The train was trapped in a tunnel after the tracks were blown up and militants opened fire on it, reportedly injuring the driver, local authorities and police have told media.
The BLA believes the Balochistan region of Pakistan, in the country’s far west bordering Iran and Afghanistan, should be allowed to break off from Pakistan. They are well-known for committing terror attacks in Pakistan. The BLA also attacked Jaffar Express trains in August 2013 and October 2016.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(LONDON) — Ukrainian authorities reported a major Russian missile and drone strike on targets across the country on Tuesday night, with a top aide to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy demanding an immediate end to Moscow’s barrages as a condition for any peace deal to end Russia’s three-year-old invasion.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 181 strike drones and three missiles into the country in the latest attack. The air force said 115 drones were shot down and 55 lost in location without causing damage.
The barrage coincided with President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress, in which he said a potential peace between the two nations would be “beautiful.” The strikes began before Trump entered Congress and continued into the morning, indicated by Ukrainian air force alerts.
“Russia must stop the daily shelling of Ukraine immediately if it truly wants the war to end,” Andriy Yermak — the head of Zelenskyy’s office — wrote on Telegram.
Meanwhile, Dmitry Medvedev — the former Russian president and prime minister now serving as the deputy chairman of the country’s Security Council — wrote on social media that “inflicting maximum defeat on the enemy” remains Moscow’s “main task.”
Authorities in the southern port city of Odesa reported a “massive” strike, with at least one person killed by drone shrapnel and parts of the city cut off from utilities.
“As a result of the attack in Odesa, critical infrastructure has been damaged and part of the city has been left without electricity, water and heat,” the city’s military administration wrote on Telegram.
“Private houses in the suburbs of Odessa were damaged by debris from downed enemy drones,” the statement said. Fires broke out and a missile hit “an empty sanatorium,” the administration said.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces “hit the infrastructure of military airfields, an oil depot providing fuel to [Ukrainian military] units, production workshops and control points for unmanned aerial vehicles, the location of [Ukrainian] special operations forces’ boats.
The ministry said it also shot down eight Ukrainian drones over Russian territory overnight.
Russian and Ukrainian drone strikes have continued as both sides jostle for advantage in renewed peace talks being facilitated by President Donald Trump’s administration. Last month, the effort began with a meeting between American and Russian delegations in Saudi Arabia without any Ukrainian involvement. The two sides expressed their intentions to revive bilateral ties and explore areas for future economic cooperation.
U.S.-Ukrainian ties have frayed badly since Trump returned to office with a vow to rapidly end the war. Tensions came to a head in last week’s explosive Oval Office meeting between the two presidents and with Vice President JD Vance in attendance. The meeting devolved into a shouting match with Zelenskyy’s team being asked to leave the White House afterwards.
As European allies mobilized to back Zelenskyy and urge reconciliation, Trump announced a freeze on all U.S. aid to Ukraine. Administration officials demanded an apology from Zelenskyy and assent for a controversial deal to give the U.S. access to valuable Ukrainian natural resources.
During his address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night, Trump said he received a letter from Zelenskyy, reading part of it aloud and suggesting that tensions between the two camps had cooled.
“I appreciate that he sent this letter, just got it a little while ago,” Trump said. “Simultaneously, we’ve had serious discussions with Russia and have received strong signals that they are ready for peace. Wouldn’t that be beautiful?”
In his first comments after the U.S. aid freeze was announced, Zelenskyy said Tuesday that Ukraine is ready to sign the minerals deal “in any time and in any convenient format.”
“None of us wants an endless war. Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer,” Zelenskyy said in a statement. “Nobody wants peace more than Ukrainians. My team and I stand ready to work under President Trump’s strong leadership to get a peace that lasts.”
“We do really value how much America has done to help Ukraine maintain its sovereignty and independence. And we remember the moment when things changed when President Trump provided Ukraine with Javelins. We are grateful for this,” Zelenskyy continued.
Referring to the disastrous Oval Office meeting, the Ukrainian leader said it “did not go the way it was supposed to be. It is regrettable that it happened this way. It is time to make things right. We would like future cooperation and communication to be constructive.”
ABC News’ Alexandra Hutzler contributed to this report.
(MADRID) — Former Spanish soccer federation president Luis Rubiales has been found guilty of sexual assault of stemming from his nonconsensual kiss of footballer Jenni Hermoso at the 2023 World Cup Final.
Spain beat England 1-0, taking home the 2023 World Cup title. Rubiales kissed Hermoso without her consent during the team’s trophy ceremony, which was captured on video and in photos.
Rubiales was suspended from his position in August 2023 after the incident. Nearly the entire coaching staff has resigned amid the controversy.
Rubiales had claimed that the kiss was consensual, but Hermoso publicly denied that claim.
After refusing to resign amid pressure from the Spanish government, players, soccer clubs and officials, he later resigned from his position. In October 2023, Rubiales was banned by FIFA from all soccer activities for three years.
The incident triggered protests and fed into the wider discussion about sexism and consent.
Rubiales could face more than a year in prison.
Last year, a judge said there was enough evidence for Rubiales and three other former executives with the Royal Spanish Football Federation to go to trial.
Prosecutors asked for a two-and-a-half-year sentence for Rubiales, arguing he held Hermoso’s head without her consent and that the nonconsensual kiss had personal and professional consequences for the soccer player, prosecutors told ABC News. He could also face a fine of at least 50,000 euros ($54,000), prosecutors said.
Prosecutors asked for Rubiales to be prohibited from communicating with or coming within a 200-meter radius of Hermoso.
The prosecutor’s office said it also requested one-and-a-half years in prison for the three former executives who the judge said may have put pressure on Hermoso to say it was a consensual kiss.
-ABC News’ Aicha El Hammar Castano contributed to this report
Ukrainians have suffered a decline in physical and mental health with a need for mental health care, trauma care and rehabilitation, according to the global health agency.
Thousands of people have been injured, and both children and adults are experiencing serious medical conditions and psychological trauma, studies have shown.
“Being a doctor in wartime means returning home after each shift, wishing the war had never happened and praying for its swift end,” Olha Zavyalova, an emergency physician and surgeon from the Dnipro region in southeastern Ukraine, said in a statement.
“People are exhausted — both the patients and the health care workers. Yet, as medical professionals, we do not have the luxury of being tired. Our patients need us to keep going and we must push through the fatigue to continue delivering the care they deserve,” Zavyalova said.
An October 2024 assessment from the WHO European Region found that 68% of Ukrainians reported a decline in health compared to before the war. Mental health concerns were the most prevalent health issue, reported by 46% of those surveyed, the WHO found.
This was followed by mental health disorders — such as anxiety and depression — reported by 41% of those surveyed, and neurological disorders reported by 38%.
Access to health and medical care continues to be a struggle, with one in four people reporting a decrease in access to medical services since the start of the war in February 2022, according to the WHO.
In front-line regions, including the most affected areas, only about 50% of residents have been able to access medical care compared to 57% in the capital, Kyiv, and 60% in the rest of the country, according to the October 2024 report.
Internally displaced people are among the most affected when it comes to lack of medical care. According to the United Nations Refugee Agency, 4 million Ukrainians were internally displaced as of February 2025.
The WHO said 13% of internally displaced people lack access to primary health care facilities compared to 6% of those not displaced, and 9% don’t have access to a family doctor compared to 4% of those not displaced.
The October 2024 WHO report also found the cost of medicines and treatment to be a barrier to accessing care, with 35% postponing medical care due to financial challenges.
Additionally, there is a need for trauma care and rehabilitation, according to the WHO. The agency, citing the Ukrainian Ministry of Health, said that by mid-2024, 100,000 amputations had been performed due to the war. Meanwhile, there is a severe shortage of trauma specialists, prosthetics and rehabilitation services, the WHO said.
The WHO also warned about attacks on the health care system and workers. Since the start of the war, the agency said it has documented at least 2,254 attacks, with 42 attacks so far in 2025 alone, which resulted in 12 injuries and three deaths.
Amid the attacks was damage to the Okhmatdyt Children’s Hospital in Kyiv — one of the most well-respected children’s hospitals in the country — when five Ukrainian cities fell under attack in July 2024, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said at the time. At least two people were killed in the attack on the hospital, including one female physician, and at least seven children were injured, according to officials.
In November 2022, a newborn baby was killed when a missile strike hit a maternity hospital in the town of Vilniansk in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, the local mayor told ABC News at the time.
The WHO said it’s focused on rebuilding Ukraine’s health care system, including installing primary health care clinics in affected regions and providing critical care including immunizations and mental health care, as well as treating HIV, tuberculosis and antimicrobial resistance.
“Health is the foundation of peace and recovery. Rebuilding health systems means restoring hope, dignity and securing the future,” the WHO wrote in its release.
