QUETTA: A blast on a railway track in Balochistan’s Mastung district on Sunday derailed six bogies of the Jaffar Express, though no casualties were reported, officials confirmed.
The explosion took place near Spezant in Dasht Tehsil, damaging the train’s locomotive and several coaches. Levies authorities said an explosive device planted on the track detonated as the train passed, forcing the engine and five bogies off the rails and bringing the Jaffar Express to an abrupt stop.
Rescue teams and railway staff promptly arrived to evacuate passengers, while security forces cordoned off the area and launched a search operation for the perpetrators. Officials noted the explosives were locally made, underscoring ongoing security challenges in the province.
The Jaffar Express, which runs between Quetta and Rawalpindi, has been targeted multiple times in the past. This latest attack occurred just three days after the Quetta-bound train narrowly escaped damage in Sibi, when a bomb planted near the track exploded moments after it had passed.
On July 24, a similar incident saw a powerful blast damage a bogie of the Bolan Mail on the Quetta–Sibi route. Days later, on July 28, the Jaffar Express derailed in Sindh’s Sukkur, initially suspected to be caused by an explosion but later attributed by the Ministry of Railways to a technical fault.
In June, a remotely detonated device derailed four bogies of the Jaffar Express in Jacobabad, and in April, the 3UP train from Karachi to Quetta was stopped at Jacobabad station due to security threats. Earlier in March, services between Quetta and other parts of the country were suspended after the unprecedented hijacking of the Peshawar-bound Jaffar Express, resuming only on March 27.
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