Jaffar Express targeted again: Bomb blast causes derailment, 7 injured

Shikarpur, Pakistan: At least seven people were injured on Tuesday morning after an explosive device detonated on railway tracks targeting the Quetta-bound Jaffar Express in Pakistan’s Sindh province. The attack is the latest in a string of assaults on the train, raising fresh concerns over passenger safety and rail security in the region.

According to Pakistan media outlets, the explosion occurred at approximately 8:15am near Sultan Kot railway station in Shikarpur district, about one kilometre from the station. Shikarpur Deputy Commissioner Shakeel Abro confirmed that seven passengers sustained injuries in the blast.

Four of the injured were transported to the Combined Military Hospital, while the remaining three were admitted to the Civil Hospital in Shikarpur for treatment.

The train, en route to Quetta via Jacobabad, was halted following the blast. Mohsin Ali Sial, Divisional Transport Officer for Sukkur, stated that passengers were being moved to nearby stations to allow for the damaged section to be repaired and operations to resume.

Target of repeated attacks

This incident follows a similar attack on September 24 in Balochistan’s Mastung district, where 12 passengers, including women and children, were injured after an improvised explosive device (IED) targeted the same train near the Spizend area. That blast caused six coaches to derail, with one overturning.

Remarkably, that blast came less than 10 hours after another explosion near the main rail line connecting Balochistan to the rest of the country. On that occasion, the Jaffar Express,  preparing to depart Quetta for Peshawar, was briefly halted for security checks before being cleared to continue, as no damage had been sustained to the track.

In both cases, officials said the explosives had been planted directly on the rail line and were detonated remotely as the train passed. One of the trains was reportedly carrying over 270 passengers at the time of the blast.

Earlier this year, the Jaffar Express was the target of a major attack when, on March 11, militants from the Baloch Liberation Army’s (BLA) Majeed Brigade hijacked the train in the Dhabar area of the Bolan Pass, Balochistan. The assailants blew up a section of the track, forcing the train to stop near Tunnel No. 8.

Over 400 passengers were taken hostage during a 24-hour standoff. The BLA later claimed to have executed at least 20 captured security personnel after verifying their identities. The incident drew national attention to the deteriorating security conditions along critical rail routes in Pakistan's western provinces.

Mounting Security Concerns

The repeated targeting of the Jaffar Express, one of Pakistan’s main cross-country rail links between Peshawar and Quetta, underscores the vulnerability of transport infrastructure to militant attacks, particularly in regions bordering Balochistan.

Authorities continue to investigate the latest incident in Shikarpur. However, no group has claimed responsibility for the blast as of yet.