Seven killed, 10 hurt in attack on Jaffar Express in Naseerabad

QUETTA: Seven passengers, including three brothers, were killed and 10 others injured when three bogies of the Jaffar Express derailed following an explosion on the main Quetta-Rawalpindi railway track in the Naseerabad district on Monday. Commissioner Naseerabad Syed Zafar Bukhari told ‘The News’ that six people were killed and 10 injured in the incident. However, one more death was later reported. All the injured were discharged from hospital except one whose condition was stated to be serious, added Bukhari. Police said it was a remote controlled blast that took place near the Notal railway station. The banned Baloch Republican Army (BRA) claimed responsibility for the blast. The bomb was planted on the railway track and went off at around 9:30am when the train was passing through the Notal area, SP Railways Riaz Ahmed said while talking to media men at the Quetta railway station. Three coaches of the train were derailed following the explosion. Six passengers, including two women and three brothers, were killed in the incident. The blast was so powerful that the limbs and flesh of the victims littered the bogies, an eyewitness, who was travelling in the train, told The News. The Naseerababad commissioner said one of the compartments of Jaffar Express was badly damaged due to the explosion. The police, Frontier Corps (FC) and district administration rushed to the spot soon after the explosion and cordoned off the area. They shifted the injured to a local hospital for treatment. Bodies of the deceased were removed to morgue of a local hospital, said officials of the Naseerabad administration. Pakistan Railways officials said that a portion of the railway track was destroyed. The train was carrying over 100 passengers from Rawalpindi, Lahore and other parts of the Punjab who were returning to Quetta after the Eid holidays. Balochistan Governor Muhammad Khan Achakzai and Chief Minister Dr Abdul Malik Baloch strongly condemned the bomb blast and termed it an inhuman act. In their separate messages, they directed to apprehend those involved in the incident. The chief minister directed the local administration to submit a report on the incident and provide all the medical facilities to the injured. The blast damaged a portion of the railway track which led to suspension of rail traffic between Quetta and other parts of the country. Three coaches which had been derailed were put back on the track the same evening. “We have initiated the repair work on the track and it might be completed till late night,” said a railway official. The spokesman for the BRA telephoned the media offices from an unknown place and claimed responsibility for the train attack.Agencies add: Meanwhile, the Balochistan government announced Rs1 million compensation for the families of the victims of Jaffar Express blast. Balochistan Home Minister Mir Sarfraz Bugti said that elements involved in targeting the passenger train would be brought to book and security forces were making all out efforts to trace them. He said that solid steps were being taken to provide security to the people’s lives and properties.Mir Sarfraz Bugti said that extremists who wanted to destabilise Balochistan used various tactics, including kidnappings, target killing, bomb blasts and targeting public installations. Railway Minister Saad Rafique accused the Baloch separatists for the attack and told reporters the bomb was detonated by remote-control.“People who claimed to be fighting for the rights of Balochistan are responsible for this attack,” Saad said. Addressing a press conference, the railway minister questioned how the separatist Baloch leaders claimed to be poor when they had stocks of arms worth millions of dollars. He said the separatists were playing in the hands of the enemies of Balochistan. He asked the Baloch separatists and Taliban to leave the path of extremism, accept the Pakistani Constitution and sit across the table. He made it clear that the Pakistani nation would not tolerate desecration of the national flag. He was of the opinion that Taliban and other extremists were the product of “establishment” but their role had ended. President Mamnoon Hussain strongly condemned the incident of bomb blast that hit the Jaffar Express and killed many people.He expressed sympathies with the bereaved families and prayed for the departed souls to rest in peace. He also prayed for the early recovery of injured.