Jaffar Express tragedy: Pakistan Railways suspends train service to Balochistan

Lahore: Train services to and from Balochistan have been suspended following the terrorist attack on the Jaffar Express.

According to a media report, Pakistan Railways has temporarily suspended its operations from Punjab and Sindh to Balochistan.

Pakistan Railways Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Amir Ali Baloch said that all passenger and freight trains to Balochistan will remain suspended until the security agencies give clearance to the area, and the trains have been temporarily suspended until the situation in Balochistan returns to normal.

CEO Railways Amir Ali stated that they were in touch with the security agencies of Pakistan in this regard, but he could not tell the ground situation at the moment. However, he expressed his best wishes and prayers for the safety of all passengers, railway staff, and citizens.

Railway officials said that at the request of the concerned authorities, a special train was also run to transport security forces personnel from Sibi to the site of the unfortunate incident with the Jaffar Express.

Railway Deputy Station Manager Lahore Muhammad Asif said that the Jaffar Express will depart from Lahore at 5:30pm, and its final destination will be Rohri/Sukkur. Now it will not run up to Quetta.

He added that Pakistan Railways has canceled two trains, the Shah Latif Express and Pak Business Train, due to low reservations. Passengers who had booked to travel in these two trains will be taken to their destinations by Karakoram and Karachi Express.

It is pertinent to note that yesterday, to spread unrest in Balochistan, the enemies of the country attacked the train, Jaffar Express, going from the provincial capital Quetta to the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Peshawar, and took the passengers hostage. However, the security forces rescued 155 passengers from the cowardly enemy, while 27 terrorists were killed and several others were injured in the operation.

This unfortunate incident of terrorism in Balochistan took place in the area between Gudlar and Pir Kunri in Mach, where firing was opened on the Jaffar Express going from Quetta to Peshawar, as a result of which the train driver was also injured.

It is also reported that terrorists had attacked the Jaffar Express at Dhadar near Bolan and targeted innocent civilians. The terrorists stopped the Jaffar Express in a tunnel and took the passengers hostage.

Despite being extremely difficult and far from the road, the security forces surrounded the area and started a clearance operation. The majority of the hostages were women and children.

According to the reports, the terrorists were also in contact with their facilitators abroad. The clearance operation continued until the terrorists were eliminated.