Two individuals, including a woman, have been killed in the explosion on the Quetta-bound Jaffar Express train on Thursday morning. Another nine people have been severely injured in the incident. The blast occurred on the moving train. “A passenger hid the cylinder in his luggage and took it to the bathroom, where it later exploded,” said the Pakistan Railway’s spokesperson, Babur Ali.
In the first instance, as per the local sources and the passengers of the Jaffar express, a powerful blast occurred in the washroom of bogey number six of the economic coach, vaguely during the time when it was passing the Chichawatni railway station, which is in the province of Pakistan’s Punjab. The coaches were damaged critically.
Deputy Superintendent Hammad Hasan of Multan asserted that many inconsistent statements were made by the locals and passengers. A counter-terrorism team has been located at the site. He also added, “But so far, the railroad has not released any official statements regarding the attack. As soon as we get some information, we will share it with the media.”
Pakistan deployed rescue and relief
Pakistani officials deployed Rescue and Relief teams of the railway to the site. The injured people have been sent to the Tehsil Headquarters Hospital (THO), according to Faizal Shahzad, district police officer (DPO) of Sahiwal.
Pakistani authorities are oblivious to the nature and cause of this blast, and no claims have yet been made of terrorist activity. However, the locals suspect it as a terror attack since the train was coming from Peshawar and in past Peshawar has been moved backwards and forwards by violence, especially terrorist violence.
Baluchistan, considered to be one of the most notorious places infested with terrorist organizations like the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), is blamed for the recent bomb attacks and many insurgent activities. The Baluch separatists want to reclaim their independence. and executing such attacks on passenger trains and security stations in Baluchistan is their approach.
Jaffar Express is one of the most significant trains in Pakistan as it connects the country south-to-north. But this is not the first time that a ghastly episode like this has occurred on this train. In January of 2024, another similar type of attack occurred killing 8 people and many injured in a moving train. The train was attacked, and two bogies were derailed while it was going through Mach to Peshawar, as per the Railway authorities.
Not long ago, an explosion in Pakistan’s Quetta Police Lines area injured at least five people. The injured were sent to the Civil Hospital in Quetta, according to Edhi employee Zeeshan Ahmed, who oversaw the rescue efforts on the scene. He also said that the area was locked down by the police and the investigation was carried out. As per the Pakistani Police investigation claimed the Baluch separatist group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) was responsible behind this attack. To which the group answered that distinctly the Pakistani security officers were aimed to attack.
Further investigation is being carried out to find the nature of the Jaffar express train blast.
