Balochistan blast: IED rips railway track, gunmen target train, chaos erupts

Quetta (The Uttam Hindu): An IED blast has been reported near Dera Murad Jamali in Balochistan, Pakistan. The IED was planted on a railway track. The explosion blew out a portion of the railway track. However, police have defused another explosive device. This is not the first time such an explosion has occurred in this area of ​​Balochistan. Similar explosions have occurred several times before.

Police said that miscreants had planted an explosive device (IED) on the main railway track near the Notal area of ​​Nasirabad district. According to a report in Pakistani media Dawn, a major incident was averted. On Tuesday, the IED exploded before the Jaffar Express, traveling from Peshawar to Quetta, was about to reach the spot. The blast damaged a portion of the railway track, forcing train services to be halted. Railway officials stopped the Jaffar Express at Dera Murad Jamali. Furthermore, train services between Quetta and other areas have been temporarily suspended until the track is completely repaired.

Following the blast, a large team of police, bomb disposal squad, and security forces reached the spot and launched a search operation to find those involved in the incident. A similar incident had occurred in November. The Jaffar Express was attacked in the Bolan Pass area of ​​Balochistan, Pakistan. According to a report in Dawn, railway officials said that the Jaffar Express was traveling from Quetta to Peshawar when armed men targeted the train. According to railway officials, the armed men opened fire on the train when it reached Aab-e-Gum. Security personnel, including railway police, traveling on the train retaliated.

However, the attackers fled the scene after a brief exchange of fire with security personnel. According to railway officials, no casualties were reported in the firing. Earlier, officials reported that on October 7, at least seven people were injured in an explosion targeting the Quetta-bound Jaffar Express in Sindh's Shikarpur district. Shikarpur Deputy Commissioner Shakeel Abro stated that an explosion occurred on the railway track at 8:15 a.m. (local time) on October 7. The blast occurred one kilometer from the Sultan Kot railway station, injuring seven people. Earlier this year, the Majeed Brigade of the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) hijacked the Jaffar Express passenger train from Quetta to Peshawar, taking more than 400 people hostage. The train was halted on March 11 after the tracks were blown up in the Dhabar area of ​​the Bolan Pass in Balochistan.