A blast hit the Jaffar Express in Pakistan’s Sindh province on Monday, derailing four carriages of the train, officials said, as a Baloch armed group claimed responsibility for the attack.
Railway authorities said the explosion took place at Abad railway station when the Peshawar-bound train was travelling from Quetta toward Sukkur.
“Four bogies of the train were derailed due to the intensity of the explosion,” an official said. No details on casualties had been provided by the authorities at the time of reporting.
The Jaffar Express, which runs between Quetta, Punjab and Peshawar, has repeatedly come under attack over the past year by Baloch armed groups, who allege that the train is routinely used to transport serving and reserve members of Pakistan’s armed forces.
In March last year, fighters from the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) stormed the Jaffar Express, taking hundreds of passengers hostage. The group later claimed that more than 200 Pakistani military personnel were killed during the operation after the Pakistani authorities refused a proposed prisoner exchange.
Following the hijacking, the train has faced multiple attacks and several service suspensions.
In response to heightened threats, Pakistani authorities introduced additional security measures, including specially designed security carriages for personnel tasked with protecting the train.
Recently, Federal Minister for Railways Hanif Abbasi reviewed these measures in Quetta, describing the installation of a surveillance-equipped bogie as an “effective step.”
He praised what he called the professional efforts of the army and Frontier Corps Balochistan North, saying the train had been made “safe, reliable and satisfactory” with round-the-clock monitoring of tracks, upgraded cameras and increased security staff.
However, rail services were suspended again following Monday’s blast.
Meanwhile, the Baloch Republican Guards (BRG), which has repeatedly targeted the train since the March hijacking, claimed responsibility for the latest attack.
In a statement issued to the media, BRG spokesperson Dostain Baloch said fighters planted an improvised explosive device (IED) and detonated it by remote control at Sultan Kot, a town between Shikarpur and Jacobabad.
He said the train was targeted at a time when personnel of the Pakistani military were travelling on board, claiming that several were killed or injured and that multiple carriages overturned.
Pakistani authorities have not confirmed the casualty claims.
The BRG statement said the group would continue such attacks “until the independence of Balochistan is achieved.”