KARACHI: An improvised explosive device (IED) blast derailed five coaches of the Peshawar-bound Jaffar Express in southwestern Balochistan province on Sunday, Pakistan Railways confirmed in yet another attack targeting the train.
The IED blast took place on a train track near Quetta’s Spezand Railway Station on Sunday morning, the railways said in a press release. It added that five coaches of the 39-Up Jaffar Express train, which runs from Quetta to Peshawar, had been derailed while all passengers remained safe.
“Railway and security teams are present at the scene, and rescue operations have begun,” the statement said.
It said the railway administration will bring passengers back to the southwestern city of Quetta in light of the security situation, adding that train operations from Quetta will resume after authorities provide security clearance.
Federal Minister for Railways Muhammad Hanif Abbasi condemned the attack.
“Terrorists’ cowardly acts cannot weaken our resolve,” Abbasi said in a statement issued by railways.
No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack.
This is the fourth incident involving Jaffar Express since it resumed operations in March, following a rare hijacking by the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) separatist militants with 400 passengers aboard.
The hijacking in the rugged Bolan mountain range ended on March 12 after an hours-long military operation that killed 33 militants and rescued hostages. The standoff also left 23 soldiers, three railway staff and five passengers dead.
In June, the train narrowly avoided a disaster when a bogie of its power van derailed near Shikarpur’s Mandi Phatak area, according to a report by the state-owned Associated Press of Pakistan.
In late July, at least one person was injured when an explosion derailed three coaches of the train in Pakistan’s southern Sindh province.
The coaches derailed in Sindh’s Shikarpur district after the explosion damaged part of the railway track, halting railway operations briefly.
The train narrowly escaped disaster on Thursday when a bomb planted near the track close to Sibi Railway Station exploded, just after the Jaffar Express passed.
Pakistan’s railway system faces frequent derailments due to poor maintenance and militant attacks targeting rail tracks, especially in the Sindh and Balochistan provinces.
These incidents underscore an urgent need for infrastructure and security upgrades across the rail network.
