Balochistan, June 18: At least six coaches of Pakistan’s Jaffar Express derailed on Wednesday following a blast on railway tracks near Jacobabad in Sindh province, as per reports in Pakistani media.
The train was en route from Quetta to Peshawar when the explosion occurred. According to police officials, the blast created a crater approximately three feet wide and deep, damaging nearly six feet of railway track.
Authorities suspect that the explosion was caused by an improvised explosive device (IED) planted along the line. Officials stated that no casualties have been reported and that the area has been secured.
A formal investigation is currently underway, said railway officials. The Baloch Republican Guards, an armed Baloch separatist organisation, has claimed responsibility for the attack on the Jaffar Express, as well as for targeting containers linked to the Reko Diq project in Chagai, Balochistan, The Balochistan Post reported.
The group’s spokesperson, Dosteen Baloch, issued a statement claiming the blast was executed by their operatives using a remote-controlled device near the Jacobabad cattle market. “In today’s attack, six coaches of the train derailed.
The Jaffar Express is used by the occupying Pakistani army for the movement of its personnel, and our attacks will be severe in the future,” the spokesperson said (rough English translation). “Our organisation accepts responsibility for these attacks. Our such attacks will continue until the independence of Balochistan,” the statement added.
Videos circulating on social media showed passengers, including families with children, safely disembarking from the derailed train and retrieving their belongings. Despite the derailment, there was no report of injury or death. Notably, this is not the first time the Jaffar Express has been targeted.
In March, insurgents from the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) hijacked the train near Quetta, taking hundreds of passengers hostage and killing over two dozen security personnel. The military claimed that the operation to neutralise the attackers and rescue the hostages had concluded successfully. Security sources confirmed that at least 346 hostages were rescued, and around 50 attackers were neutralised.
IANS
