Pakistan: Jaffar Express targeted again, escapes without damage

Karachi: The frequently-targeted Jaffar Express passenger train narrowly escaped an explosion in Pakistan's Balochistan province, a day after it resumed operations following nearly a week of suspension due to security concerns.

Insurgents targeted the train in the Nasirabad area of the province on Sunday, months after it came under a deadly insurgent attack that left 26 people dead.

Suspected insurgents detonated explosives planted on the railway track on the route taken by the Jaffar Express from Quetta to Peshawar, officials said.

The explosion caused damage to a portion of the track, but the train escaped without any damage. Its services were suspended for a few hours following the explosion.

Nasirabad Senior Superintendent of Police Ghulam Sarwar said in a telephonic conversation that security forces reached the area and launched a search for the insurgents. He added that the damaged tracks were also repaired.

“The Jaffar Express runs through several remote mountainous terrains on its journey, and there are many areas where the insurgents can carry out their subversive activities,” he said.

Earlier this month, railway authorities suspended the train's services between Quetta and Peshawar from November 9 to 12 due to security concerns and extended the suspension by two days. The service resumed on Saturday, according to Pakistan Railways.

It is not the first time insurgents have attacked the Jaffar Express, and its service has already been hit multiple times this year.

The most devastating attack came on March 11, when the banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) hijacked the Jaffar Express with 380 passengers on board, triggering a two-day standoff in a mountainous area and claiming 26 lives. Security forces later rescued around 354 passengers, while 33 insurgents were killed.

In October, several people were injured in a blast that occurred on a railway track, which derailed five bogies of the train in Sindh province.

Sarwar said this year alone there had been at least five incidents where insurgents detonated explosives on the tracks on which the train was travelling, and in one instance, fired rockets on the train.

“In at least two of the incidents, bogies of the train were derailed and passengers injured, but now, since March, there is additional security on the train,” he said.