The Jaffar Express narrowly escaped a bombing attempt in Balochistan’s Nasirabad district. This incident highlights ongoing militant threats to Pakistan’s rail infrastructure and the challenges in securing passenger trains.
The Jaffar Express narrowly escaped another attempted bombing on Sunday after an explosive device planted along its route detonated moments after the train passed through Balochistan’s Nasirabad district, police and railway officials said. It is the latest in a series of attacks on one of Pakistan’s most frequently targeted passenger trains.
According to officials, unidentified attackers planted the bomb on the railway track in the Shaheed Abdul Aziz Bullo area. The Peshawar-bound train, travelling from Quetta, crossed the section before the device exploded. No passengers or railway staff were injured.
Nasirabad Senior Superintendent of Police Ghulam Sarwar said officers and security personnel reached the site soon after the blast. “A search operation has also been launched to trace the elements involved in the bomb attack,” he told Dawn. The area was cordoned off, and investigators began examining the damaged stretch of track. The SSP said armed men fired four rockets at the passenger train from a distance, but none struck the coaches.
Railway authorities reported that the blast damaged a section of the track, forcing a temporary halt of services between Quetta and the rest of the nation. The Jaffar Express continued its journey after arriving in Jacobabad, Sindh. Services on this route had just resumed on Sunday following a four-day halt because of increased security threats.
According to Mir Yar Baloch, a Baloch nationalist leader, the Baloch Republican Guards (BRG) claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement issued to the media. The group said that “Freedom Fighters of the Baloch Republican Guards planted an IED at the Rabi area of Naseerabad today and targeted the Jaffar Express through a remote-controlled explosion. Several personnel were killed and injured in the blast, while the track and the train were also severely damaged.”
SERIES OF ATTACKS SINCE MARCH AMBUSH
This year, the Jaffar Express faced multiple attacks due to an increase in militant attacks on rail facilities in Balochistan. The surge of violence started on March 11, when militants from the Balochistan Liberation Army attacked the train transporting approximately 440 passengers. The attack prompted a two-day clean-up operation.
Inter-Services Public Relations Director General Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said on March 12 that “all 33 attackers had been killed” during the operation. However, the train has remained a persistent target since.
On June 18, a remote-controlled explosive device derailed four bogies near Jacobabad, an incident claimed by the banned Baloch Republican Guards. On August 7, another device detonated moments after the train crossed Sibi. Just three days later, on August 10, a bomb attached to the track exploded in Mastung, derailing six bogies. Four passengers were injured on September 23 when another blast derailed six bogies near Spezand. Seven people were injured on October 7 in Shikarpur when an explosion hit the track beneath the train.
On October 29, the Jaffar Express survived a rocket attack in Nasirabad’s Notal area. “Armed men fired four rockets from a distance to target the passenger train,” SSP Sarwar said at the time, adding that none struck the coaches.
With inputs from agencies
