Hyderabad:
On Tuesday, the Jaffar Express, a train traveling from Quetta to Peshawar through a route that passes through the four provinces, was again attacked in the Shikarpur district of Sindh, while transporting Rawalpindi passengers to Quetta. An illegalized terrorist group, the Baluchistan Republican Guard (BG), the responsibility of the attack was attributed.
The Shikarpur deputy commissioner, Shakeel Abro, told the media that the explosion occurred around 8:15 in the morning, more than a kilometer from the Sultankot train station. The DC said an improvised explosive device (FDI) was used for explosion.
“Four Bogies derailed and seven passengers were injured due to the explosion. Four of them were transferred to the combined military hospital and three to the Civil Hospital of Shikarpur,” he added.
Pakistan Railways Sukkur Division Sukkur Syed Moalim, said the passengers were transferred to the closest stations while moving cranes to return the bogies to the tracks.
The repair of the damaged roads continued during the afternoon. The train went later to the Jacobabad district on the way to Quetta, he added.
According to the SSP Shikarpur Shahzeb Chacha, the explosion was aimed at the route used by trains that pass through Jacobabad for their subsequent destination.
“The police have started a search for the culprits,” he said. However, the FIR of the incident could not register until the presentation of the report.
The Jaffar Express with at least 380 passengers on board was kidnapped by the proscribed Baluchistan Liberation Army (Bla) on March 11 of this year.
The attackers detonated explosives in tunnels and roads before opening fire, stopping the train in a mountainous region of difficult access to the authorities.
From March 11 to 12, the Pakistan Army launched the Green Bolan operation to rescue the train. The operation released 354 hostages and killed 33 insurgents of Bla.
Three Jaffar Express cars derailed near Shikarpur due to an explosion on July 28, leaving an injured. In June, the detonation of a remote controlled explosive device installed on the train tracks derailed four bogies of the Jaffar Express near the Jacobabad cattle market.
