Security forces foil attack on Jaffar Express in Pakistan

Pakistani security forces thwarted an IED attack on the Jaffar Express in Balochistan’s Nasirabad, the latest in repeated insurgent attempts on the train. Services were halted for safety as authorities investigate, following several deadly attacks on the route this year

Karachi: Security forces foiled an attempt to attack the frequently-targeted Jaffar Express passenger train in Pakistan’s Balochistan province, according to a media report on Sunday.

Unidentified insurgents planted an improvised explosive device (IED) on the track used by the Peshawar-bound train in the Nasir­abad area of the province on Saturday, the Dawn newspaper reported.

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Law enforcement agencies cordoned off the area after receiving information about the device and defused it, the report said, quoting a police official.

The attack attempt comes almost a month after the train narrowly escaped an explosion in the same area. Months before that, it came under a deadly insurgent attack that left 26 people dead.

Meanwhile, the Peshawar to Quetta Jaffar Express was stopped at Jacobabad due to security reasons.

Another train was also halted there. According to the report, services for these trains will be resumed after the situation is assessed.

It is not the first time insurgents have attacked the Jaffar Express, and its service has already been hit multiple times this year.

The most devastating attack came on March 11, when the banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) hijacked the Jaffar Express with 380 passengers on board, triggering a two-day standoff in a mountainous area and claiming 26 lives. Security forces later rescued around 354 passengers, while 33 insurgents were killed.

In October, several people were injured in a blast that occurred on a railway track, which derailed five bogies of the train in Sindh province.