The Peshawar-bound Jaffar Express once again came under armed attack in the Bolan Pass area of Balochistan’s Kachhi district on Monday, in what railway officials said was the sixth attack on the train between Quetta and Sibbi in the past one and a half months.
Railway officials said the train departed Quetta on schedule and was fired upon from nearby mountains after passing Mach station and reaching the Aab-e-Gum area.
Railway officials said all bogies of the Jaffar Express remained safe in the armed attack. “No casualty was reported in the shooting and all passengers travelling on the train remained safe,” a senior railway official said.
He said the train was stopped after the firing incident and later proceeded to its next destination after security clearance. Security on the railway track was tightened following the armed attack on the train.
The Jaffar Express has repeatedly come under attack in recent months by Baloch armed groups, who say Pakistani military personnel stationed in Balochistan often use trains for transport, making them potential targets.
Earlier this year, In March, the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) hijacked the Jaffar Express, holding more than 200 Pakistani military personnel hostage for three days. The group issued an ultimatum for a prisoner exchange, which the Pakistani government did not accept. The BLA later claimed to have executed the soldiers it had detained.
In a separate development, police in Naseerabad said they recovered and defused an explosive device planted near the railway track on Tuesday.
Also on Tuesday, a bomb blast targeted Pakistani armed forces on foot patrol in the Maro Kund area of Mastung. Initial reports said the personnel suffered losses in the explosion. However, further details remained unclear and no group had claimed responsibility at the time of publication.