By Sajid Salamat

Copyright dailytimes

Published on: September 24, 2025 6:07 AM

An explosion struck a railway track in the Dasht area of Mastung district in Balochistan on Tuesday, targeting the Jaffar Express traveling from Peshawar to Quetta and wounding a dozen passengers.

Officials said the device was an improvised explosive planted near the track, which detonated as the train passed. The blast caused four bogies to derail and left several passengers, including women and children, injured.

Rescue teams and security forces quickly reached the site to evacuate the victims. The injured were taken to hospitals in Quetta, and an emergency was declared to ensure timely medical care.

Health officials reported that while some passengers sustained minor injuries, others remain in serious condition and are receiving critical care. Images shared online showed rescue teams working with law enforcement to clear the wreckage and assist passengers.

Railway authorities confirmed that the explosion severely damaged the track, forcing a suspension of train services in the area. An investigation has been launched, though no group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Railways Minister Hanif Abbasi has ordered an inquiry into the Jaffar Express incident and directed authorities to submit a report within 24 hours.

Earlier in March, terrorists hijacked the Jaffar Express train carrying over 400 passengers in nine bogies. Before clearance operations could begin, the attackers martyred 21 passengers. Jaffar Express was on its way from Quetta to Peshawar when it came under attack in the Dhadar area of Bolan Pass.

They also detonated explosives in tunnels and on the tracks before opening fire, bringing the train to a halt in a mountainous area of Sibi district, Balochistan, which was difficult for security forces to access.

According to Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General, Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, no passengers were harmed during the clearance operation carried out by security forces after terrorists hijacked the Jaffar Express in Bolan district, Balochistan.

“All 33 terrorists have been sent to hell…. Four Frontier Corps personnel embraced martyrdom during the clearance operation,” said Lt Gen Chaudhry in an interview with a private news channel. However, he added, before the clearance operation, 21 passengers were martyred by the terrorists.

Earlier this week, the mastermind behind passenger train hijacking in Balochistan was killed under mysterious circumstances in Afghanistan, reinforcing Pakistan’s claims that terrorist groups of different hues have formed a nexus across the border where they maintain safe havens.

Gul Rahman, aka Ustad Mureed, affiliated with the Majeed Brigade, the suicide squad of the banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), had orchestrated the hijacking of the Jaffar Express, which was traveling from Quetta to Peshawar on March 11.

Gul was reportedly a trainer and operational commander of the Majeed Brigade, which the United States has also designated as a foreign terrorist organisation. He was involved in attacks targeting Pakistani security forces, Chinese nationals, civilians, and state institutions.

The Majeed Brigade had claimed responsibility for attacks on the Jaffar Express, the Chinese Consulate in Karachi, and the Pearl Continental Hotel in Gwadar.

It was also behind the Khuzdar school bus bombing, the Karachi Confucius Institute suicide blast, the Pakistan Stock Exchange attack, and the Quetta Railway Station bombing.

Separately, Balochistan CM Sarfraz Bugti on Tuesday clarified that reports about the martyrdom of Ziarat Assistant Commissioner Muhammad Afzal and his son were “incorrect”.

Addressing the Balochistan Assembly session today, the chief minister clarified that he had tweeted after receiving initial reports, but the report was later not confirmed.

“We even conducted a forensic analysis of the photo,” CM Bugti added.

Meanwhile, three people were injured after a grenade exploded at a scrap shop in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Mardan district, police said on Tuesday.

According to media reports, District Police Officer (DPO) Zahoor Babar Afridi said, “The police had collected evidence from the site of the explosion, and they were further investigating the matter.”

Moreover, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police on Tuesday successfully recovered three men abducted in Nowshera.

Nowshera Police spokesperson Turk Ali Shah earlier told the media that the “Counter-Terrorism Department has been given the task to make efforts and get the abducted people released.”

A first information report (FIR) of the incident was registered at the CTD Mardan Circle Police Station a day ago on the complaint of the engineer’s father under Pakistan Penal Code Section 365A (kidnapping or abducting for extorting property) and Section 7 (punishment for acts of terrorism) of the Anti Terrorism Act.

A statement issued from the KP Police said officials of the Nizampur Police Station were alerted about the incident.

It added that Nowshera District Police Officer Ahmad Shah assigned the task to Nizampur Station House Officer Altaf Hussain and Sub-Inspector Waqas Yousuf Wittim to safely rescue the abducted men.

“The team rescued the three kidnapped people safely with the cooperation and efforts of local elders,” the statement said.

The complainant had said in the FIR: “My son … is an engineer with a telecom company and he was recently called for the installation of optical fibre cable to Nizampur.”