ISLAMABAD: Railways Minister Hanif Abbasi has announced the resumption of Jaffar Express train service today, Tuesday, Pakistani state media reported, a week after separatist militants hijacked the passenger train in the southwestern Balochistan province.
Fighters of the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) separatist group bombed a section of the railway track and stormed the Peshawar-bound Jaffar Express train carrying over 400 passengers, in Mushkaaf, a rugged area in the mountainous Bolan range of Balochistan on March 11.
The crisis was resolved the following day when the armed forces carried out a successful operation to rescue the hostages, killing 33 militants in the process. A final count showed 23 soldiers, three railway employees and five passengers had died in the attack.
Abbasi said the track, which had been damaged in the recent attack by separatist militants in Balochistan, has now been fully restored, the Radio Pakistan broadcaster reported.
“Jaffar Express will resume its operations from today. Drone surveillance will be launched for train operations in Balochistan,” Abbasi was quoted as saying.
“CCTV cameras are also being installed at railway stations and other sensitive locations across the country to improve security.”
In oil-and-mineral-rich Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest and least populated province, ethnic Baloch separatists have long accused the central government of denying locals of a share in the province’s resources. Islamabad and Pakistan’s military strongly reject the allegations.
The military has a huge presence in Balochistan and has long run intelligence-based operations against insurgent groups such as the BLA, who have escalated attacks in recent months on the military and nationals from longtime ally China, which is building key projects in the region, including a port at Gwadar.
More than 50 people, including security forces, were killed in August last year in a string of assaults in Balochistan claimed by the BLA.
Pakistan to resume Jaffar Express train service today after deadly hijacking
https://arab.news/z8kbe
Pakistan to resume Jaffar Express train service today after deadly hijacking
- Separatist militants last week hijacked Jaffer Express and killed 31 people, including security personnel
- Railways Minister Hanif Abbasi says drone surveillance will be conducted for train operations in Balochistan
Pakistan, seven Muslim nations back Palestinian technocratic body, stress Gaza-West Bank unity
- The National Committee for the Administration of the Gaza Strip was announced on January 14
- Muslim nations call for consolidation of the ceasefire and unimpeded humanitarian aid into Gaza
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and seven other Muslim-majority countries on Thursday welcomed the formation of a temporary Palestinian technocratic body to administer Gaza, stressing that it must manage daily civilian affairs while preserving the institutional and territorial link between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank amid the ongoing peace efforts.
In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Türkiye, Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates said the newly announced National Committee for the Administration of the Gaza Strip would play a central role during the second phase of a broader peace plan aimed at ending the war and paving the way for Palestinian self-governance.
“The Ministers emphasize the importance of the National Committee commencing its duties in managing the day-to-day affairs of the people of Gaza, while preserving the institutional and territorial link between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, ensuring the unity of Gaza, and rejecting any attempts to divide it,” the statement said.
The committee, announced on Jan. 14, is a temporary transitional body established under United Nations Security Council Resolution 2803 and is to operate in coordination with the Palestinian Authority, the ministers said.
The statement said the move forms part of the second phase of US President Donald Trump’s Comprehensive Peace Plan for Gaza, which the ministers said they supported, praising Trump’s efforts to end the war, ensure the withdrawal of Israeli forces and prevent the annexation of the occupied West Bank.
The top leaders of all eight Muslim countries attended a meeting with Trump in New York last September, shortly before he unveiled the Gaza peace plan.
The ministers also called for the consolidation of the ceasefire, unimpeded humanitarian aid into Gaza, early recovery and reconstruction and the eventual return of the Palestinian Authority to administer the territory, leading to a just and sustainable peace based on UN resolutions and a two-state solution on pre-1967 lines with East Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital.
