QUETTA: An attack on a train near Mach in Bolan district left a policeman and a passenger dead on Monday. Six passengers were injured.

The train from Lahore was going to Quetta.

The injured, two women among them, were taken to Quetta in a helicopter.

Militants sitting on a mountain opened fire at the Nawab Akbar Bugti Express in Paneer area after it had crossed a tunnel, railway official Abbas Ali said. Two bogies of the train were hit by bullets, sources said.

The militants used heavy weapons in the attack, Frontier Corps (FC) spokesman Khan Wasey said. The slain policeman was part of a security contingent deployed to protect the train.

Sources said that security personnel returned fire, forcing the attackers to flee.FC troops took the bodies and injured to Mach hospital from where they were airlifted to Quetta.

The deceased were identified as Mohammad Ali (police constable) and Mohammad Nadeem and the injured included Zabaida Kurd, Khadija, Abdul Qudoos, Mohammad Hussain and Nasrullah.

The spokesman said that FC troops had launched a search in the area for the assailants.

“The train later reached Quetta,” the railway official said, adding that security would be tightened to ensure safety of passenger trains.