The situation in Balochistan province of Pakistan is not improving. Baloch rebels are continuously creating terror in this area. Meanwhile, officials said that suspected insurgents once again tried to target the Jafar Express in Balochistan province. The rebels detonated bombs targeting two trains, Jafar Express and Bolan Mail passenger train. Railway tracks were damaged by these explosions and rail services were disrupted.
Although both the trains were saved from being directly hit by these blasts, some part of the track was damaged by these blasts. Due to damage to the railway track, railway traffic between Balochistan and three other provinces of Pakistan came to a standstill.
3 feet railway track damaged
Quetta Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Shahid Nawaz said that a bomb blast took place in Mushkaf area on Friday. This explosion damaged about three feet of railway track, while another explosion in Dasht area also damaged the track.
Senior Superintendent of Police Shahid Nawaz said, in both the cases, Jafar Express and Bolan Mail passenger trains were the targets. Railway services were disrupted due to damage to tracks on the main line due to the blasts. A part of the main line has been damaged in the second blast in Dasht area of Mastung district. Due to this, traffic had to be stopped and hundreds of passengers got stuck.
What steps were taken regarding the safety of passengers?
Nawaz said that the timing of passenger trains from Quetta to other provinces of Pakistan from Saturday will be confirmed only after getting security clearance. He said, safety of passengers is of utmost importance for us and special security arrangements are being made for all passenger trains leaving from Quetta.
A special service of Jafar Express was allowed to leave for Peshawar on Saturday amid security concerns. A railway official said that to handle the rush of passengers, special service of Jafar Express was run, while normal train services are awaiting security clearance.
There were attacks on Jafar Express earlier also
Pakistan’s Jafar Express has especially been the target of Baloch militants. This is not the first time that rebels have attacked the Jafar Express. Its services have been affected several times this year. In the past two months, rebels have attacked the Jafar Express and the Bolan Mail at least three times, damaging railway tracks but causing no loss of life or property.
The train was the victim of a hijacking on March 11, when terrorists opened fire on the engine and took about 400 passengers hostage. More than 20 people were killed in the attack, while security forces rescued other passengers and killed 33 insurgents.
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