Pakistan Railways has cancelled the Jaffar Express service from Quetta to Peshawar, officials said, as train operations from Balochistan’s capital remain disrupted following last week’s attack on a military shuttle train.
Railway officials said the Quetta-to-Peshawar service had been suspended since the first day of Eid and would not operate, citing what they described as unavoidable circumstances.
They said the Jaffar Express travelling from Peshawar to Quetta would be returned from Jacobabad, while the Bolan Mail service to Karachi and the Chaman Passenger train had also been suspended.
The suspension comes after the 24 May attack near Chaman Phatak in Quetta, where a shuttle train carrying Pakistani military personnel from Quetta Cantonment to Quetta Railway Station was targeted before it was to be attached to the Jaffar Express.
The Baloch Liberation Army claimed responsibility for the attack. In a detailed statement, the group said the operation was carried out jointly by its Majeed Brigade and intelligence wing, ZIRAB, and targeted what it described as a military shuttle train operating between the cantonment and the railway station.
The BLA identified the attacker as Bilal Shahwani, also known as Saahin, and said 82 Pakistani military personnel were killed and more than 121 injured.
The May 24 blast was the third major deadly attack claimed by the BLA against trains or railway facilities it says were carrying or used by Pakistani military personnel, following a November 2024 attack at Quetta Railway Station and the March 2025 Jaffar Express hijacking in Bolan.