Train compartments suffer minor damage after unidentified gunmen fire rockets, but no casualties reported
Unidentified gunmen attacked the Jaffar Express in Dera Murad Jamali, Balochistan, firing multiple shots and launching four rockets at the passenger train. However, security forces quickly responded, foiling the assault and forcing the attackers to flee.
In the attack, several compartments of the train suffered minor damage, but no casualties were reported. Authorities said the quick response of security personnel prevented a major tragedy and ensured the safety of all passengers.
Following the attack, the train was stopped at the Dera Murad Jamali railway station, while law enforcement agencies launched a large-scale search operation to locate the attackers. Railway authorities confirmed that the situation was under control and security was reinforced along the route.
This is not the first time the Jaffar Express has been attacked. Earlier this year, the passenger train was briefly hijacked in the mountainous Bolan Valley, and in September last year it was also attacked near Quetta railway station.
Last month, an explosion rocked a railway track in the Dasht area of Mastung district in Balochistan, targeting the Jaffar Express traveling from Peshawar to Quetta and injuring a dozen passengers.
Authorities said the device was an improvised explosive placed near the track, which detonated when the train passed. The explosion caused four bogies to derail and injured several passengers, including women and children.
Railway authorities confirmed that the explosion severely damaged the track, forcing the suspension of train services in the area. An investigation has been launched, although no group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Read more: 21 passengers died before the dispatch operation
In early March, terrorists hijacked the Jaffar Express train carrying more than 400 passengers in nine bogies. Before cleanup operations could begin, the attackers martyred 21 passengers. Jaffar Express was heading from Quetta to Peshawar when it was attacked in the Dhadar area of Bolan Pass.
They also detonated explosives in tunnels and tracks before opening fire, stopping the train in a mountainous area of Sibi district, Balochistan, which was difficult for security forces to access.
According to Director General Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, no passengers were injured during the clearance operation carried out by the security forces.
“The 33 terrorists have been sent to hell… Four members of the Frontier Corps embraced martyrdom during the clearance operation,” Lieutenant General Chaudhry said in an interview with a private news channel. However, he added, before the clearance operation, 21 passengers were martyred by the terrorists.
“No one can be allowed to make innocent people of Pakistan victims of their barbarism on streets, trains, buses or markets due to their misleading ideology,” DG ISPR said. “Whoever does this, let me say it very clearly, will be hunted down and brought to justice. Let me also say that this Jaffer Express incident is a game-changer,” he added.
DG ISPR also confirmed that the attackers had been in contact with their handlers in Afghanistan, underlining the cross-border nature of the operation.
He revealed that the militants used hostages, including women and children, as human shields, placing them in groups, with suicide bombers among them. Security forces quickly neutralized the threat and snipers took out the suicide bombers, he added.
