Quetta: The Jaffar Express has once again been attacked in the Bolan Pass area of Pakistan’s Balochistan, the local media reported on Tuesday.
The train was reportedly attacked for the sixth time between Quetta and Sibi during the past one and a half months, Pakistan’s leading daily Dawn reported.
Railway officials said the Jaffar Express was travelling from Quetta to Peshawar on Monday when the armed men targetted the train. According to railway officials, armed men opened fire at the train when it reached near Aab-i-Gum.
Security personnel, including Railway police travelling on the train, retaliated. However, the attacked escaped from the site after a brief exchange of fire with security personnel. According to railway officials, no casualty was reported in the shooting.
On October 7, at least seven people were injured after a blast targetted the Quetta-bound Jaffar Express in the Shikarpur district of Sindh, according to officials.
Shikarpur Deputy Commissioner Shakeel Abro said that a blast took place on the train tracks at 8:15 am (local time) on October 7, Dawn reported. According to him, the blast happened at a distance of one kilometre from the Sultan Kot railway station.
Abro said that seven people were injured in the incident. He further said that the Jaffar Express train was heading to Quetta through Jacobabad.
Earlier on September 24, 12 people, including women and children, were injured after the Jaffar Express heading to Quetta was targetted in a bomb blast in the Spizend area of Balochistan’s Mastung.
Six bogies of the train on its way from Peshawar to Quetta derailed after the blast, and one overturned, causing injuries to the passengers, according to railway officials.
Earlier this year, the Jaffar Express passenger train on its way from Quetta to Peshawar was hijacked by the Baloch Liberation Army’s (BLA) Majeed Brigade, and over 400 people were taken as hostages.
The train was forced to come to a halt on March 11 after blowing off the track in the Dhabar area of Bolan Pass in Balochistan.
Security forces and the railway authorities had confirmed that the train had come under attack near Tunnel No. 8 of the Bolan Pass.
The standoff ended after more than 24 hours. The BLA claimed to have killed at least 20 of the abducted security personnel after checking their IDs.
(IANS)
