An improvised explosive device derailed six coaches of the Peshawar-bound Jafar Express in Pakistan’s Mastung district on Sunday, injuring four passengers, officials said. There were no fatalities.
The blast struck near Spezand Railway Station, about 25 kilometres from Quetta, shortly after the train carrying 350 passengers departed the city at 9 a.m. local time.
“A bomb attached to the railway track exploded loudly, derailing six bogies of the train heading from Quetta to Peshawar. Fortunately, there was no loss of life,” said Muhammad Kashif, public relations officer for Pakistan Railways’ Quetta division.
The injured sustained minor wounds, and rescue teams, including railway staff, were dispatched to the site. A relief train was sent to transport stranded passengers back to Quetta. Security forces cordoned off the area, and a bomb disposal squad was deployed to clear the track.
Kashif later announced that services of the Jafar Express and Bolan Mail had been suspended until August 14. The Bolan Mail will resume operations on August 16, departing Karachi for Quetta “in its proper turn,” he said.
The Jafar Express, which operates between Quetta and Peshawar, has been repeatedly targeted in recent months. On August 7, a bomb exploded near Balochistan’s Sibi railway station moments after the train had passed. On August 4, gunmen fired at its pilot engine near Kolpur, an attack claimed by the separatist Baloch Liberation Army.
Earlier incidents this year included a June derailment in Jacobabad caused by a remote-controlled explosive and a March 11 hijacking in the Bolan area that killed 21 passengers and four security personnel. In the latter case, security forces later killed 33 militants linked to the attack.
Authorities believe ethnic Baloch insurgent groups are behind such assaults. A derailment on July 28 in Sindh’s Sukkur was initially blamed on an explosion but later attributed to a technical fault.