By Staff Reporter
QUETTA: An explosion derailed four cars of the Jaffar Express near Spezand in Balochistan’s Mastung district on Tuesday, injuring several passengers, including women and children, officials said.
The attack, triggered by an improvised explosive device planted on the tracks, is the latest assault on Balochistan’s rail infrastructure, highlighting the province’s escalating security crisis.
The blast struck as the train, carrying 270 passengers from Peshawar to Quetta, passed through Dasht tehsil. The explosion sent four cars off the tracks. Emergency teams and security forces rushed to the scene, transporting the injured to hospitals in Quetta, where an emergency was declared.
Three people were injured in the blast and have been shifted to the Civil Hospital Trauma Centre, while an injured child has been taken to Combined Military Hospital.
Muhammad Kashif, public relations officer for Pakistan Railways’ Quetta division, said a railway track was blown up with explosives in the town of Spezand, “derailing several bogies.” He said a relief train, rescue trucks, and private cranes were dispatched from Quetta, but repairs and removal of the derailed cars would begin on Wednesday morning. Security forces cordoned off the area and launched a search operation. An investigation began to identify the perpetrators. No group has claimed responsibility.
The attack follows a series of strikes on Balochistan’s rail network, a critical link for passengers and goods. Last month, six cars of the Jaffar Express derailed near Spezand. Days earlier, the same train narrowly escaped disaster in Sibi when a bomb exploded just after it passed. On July 24, an explosion damaged a car of the Bolan Mail on the Quetta-Sibi line. In June, a remotely controlled device derailed four cars of the Jaffar Express in Jacobabad, though no injuries were reported.
Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest and least developed province, faces a growing threat from separatist insurgents and militants targeting infrastructure and government facilities. On March 11, the Peshawar-bound Jaffar Express, carrying 440 passengers, was hijacked near Sibi, leaving 21 passengers and four security personnel dead. The military said it neutralized “all 33 terrorists” in a two-day operation. Rail services resumed on March 27 after weeks of suspension.
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