- Several people were injured in an IED explosion on the Quetta-bound Jaffar Express in Balochistan
- Baloch Republic Guards claimed responsibility for targeting Pakistani Army personnel on board
- Jaffar Express has faced multiple attacks since March, including hijacking and bombings
Several were injured in a powerful explosion on the Jaffar Express in the Balochistan province of Pakistan. The Quetta-bound Jaffar Express was targeted near the Sultankot area, close to the Sindh-Balochistan border in Pakistan on Tuesday, the latest in a series of attacks that have targeted this train since March this year. The blast was reportedly caused by an improvised explosive device (IED) planted on the tracks, derailing at least six coaches of the Quetta-bound passenger train.
The Baloch rebel group, Baloch Republic Guards, has claimed responsibility for the attack, claiming it was targeted because personnel of the Pakistani Army were travelling in the train.
"The train was attacked at a time when personnel of the occupying Pakistani Army were travelling on board. As a result of the explosion, several soldiers were killed and injured, and six coaches of the train derailed," the Baloch Republican Guards said in a statement.
"The BRG claims responsibility for this attack and declares that such operations will continue until the independence of Balochistan," it added.
The rescue teams and security forces have reached the spot, and the rescue operation is underway. Visuals from the blast site shared on social media show several people were injured in the incident. However, so far, there is no report about any casualties.
The Jafar Express, which runs between Quetta and Peshawar, has been repeatedly targeted in recent months, with the attack in March being the worst. On March 11, the Jaffar Express was hijacked while travelling from Quetta to Peshawar in the Bolan area, resulting in the deaths of 21 passengers and four security personnel. The security forces in a targeted operation killed 33 terrorists involved in attacking the train.
On September 24, at least a dozen-odd people, including women and children, were injured in a bombing attack on the same train in the Spizend area of Mastung in Balochistan.
On August 10, four people were injured when an improvised explosive device derailed six coaches of the Peshawar-bound Jafar Express in the Mastung district.
On August 7, the train narrowly escaped a disaster near Balochistan's Sibi railway station, where a bomb planted near the track exploded just after the passenger train had passed.
In another incident, on August 4, gunmen fired five bullets at its pilot engine near Kolpur. The separatist Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for the latter attack.
A July 28 derailment of the same train in Sindh province's Sukkur was initially attributed to an explosion, but the Ministry of Railways later said it was due to a technical fault.
In June, a remotely controlled explosive device fitted to rail tracks exploded, causing four bogies of the Jaffar Express to derail in Jacobabad.
It is believed that ethnic Baloch terrorist groups carry out such attacks.
