• Parliamentary secretary, others remain safe
• Coast guards personnel injured in similar assault
• Railway track blown up in Nasirabad

DERA MURAD JAMALI/GWADAR: The parliamentary secretary for the fisheries department and other government officials escaped a grenade attack in Turbat town, while a coast guards official was injured in a similar attack in Hub on Wednesday.

Barkat Rind, the parliamentary secretary, was holding an “open kacharry” — a public court — to address grievances of people in Turbat when unknown motorcyclists hurled a hand grenade toward the venue, officials said.

The grenade exploded at some distance from the gathering, causing panic among attendees but resulting in no casualties.

“Barkat Rind of PML-N, other officials of the fisheries department, local administration and participants of open Kacharry remained safe in the grenade attack,” a senior police official said, adding that the attackers escaped the site after hurling the grenade.

Police noted that the grenade exploded in the venue’s parking lot, damaging several cars. Security forces cordoned off the area and launched a search operation in a nearby area to “trace out the miscreants,” officials said.

Separately, a similar grenade attack in the Hub district resulted in the injury of a Pakistan Coast Guards personnel when attackers targeted a checkpoint near the highway.

“A personnel of PCG (was) slightly injured in the attack who was shifted to the nearby hospital,” police said, adding that the victim’s condition is stable.

Jaffar Express escapes attack

In a third act of subversion, militants blew up a main railway track linking Balochistan with three other provinces, suspending train service. Railway officials said miscreants planted explosives on the track in the Notal area of Nasirabad district and detonated them in the early hours.

Police and security forces rushed to the site immediately following the blast.

“Around three-foot portion of the railway track blew up that disrupted the rail service,” a senior police officer said. He added that the Quetta-bound Jaffar Exp­ress, which was arriving from Peshawar, could have been the target of the blast.

Railway officials confirmed that train service was restored after repairing the track. The Jaffar Express, which was stopped at Dera Murad Jamali after the explosion, reached Quetta in the afternoon.

Authorities are investigating all three incidents.

Published in Dawn, January 8th, 2026