Three coaches of the Jaffar Express train were derailed near Shikarpur in Sindh due to an explosion on Monday, leaving one injured, The Associated Press of Pakistan reported.

According to the report, rescue teams from Sukkur were dispatched to start repair work after the incident.

Sukkur Railways Divisional Superintendent Jamshaid Alam said that the Jaffar Express was travelling from Peshawar to Quetta when it was caught in the explosion near Sultanpur.

“Following the blast, train operations have been suspended,” Alam said, adding that passengers “faced serious difficulties due to the train’s derailment”.

Railways officials stated that it may take up to another five hours to restore the track.

Meanwhile, the Sindh government authorities have taken notice of the explosion on the track and ordered an investigation.

This is not the first time the train service has been attacked.

In June, the detonation of a remote-controlled explosive device fitted to rail tracks derailed four bogies of the Jaffar Express near the cattle market in Jacobabad.

No one was hurt in the incident, but the attack was reportedly claimed by the banned Baloch Repu­blican Guards in a statement.

On March 11, the train became the target of an unprecedented hijacking, when terrorists fired on the locomotive and took over 400 passengers hostage.

Media reports said that security forces had surrounded the area and launched a clearance operation to rescue all passengers. Radio Pakistan reported that security forces had rescued 80 hostages held by the terrorists.

Inter-Services Public Relations Director General Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said on March 12 that the clearance operation, launched after the train’s unprecedented hijacking in Balochistan, ended with all 33 terrorists being killed.

Editorial

14 Aug, 2026

Taliban support

THE latest UN monitoring report analysing the activities of several transnational terrorist groups is unequivocal in...
14 Aug, 2026

Job policy for youth

STRIPPED of its rhetoric, the prime minister’s announcement of Pakistan’s first National Youth Employment Policy...
14 Aug, 2026

Jail improvements

THE Punjab government is spending Rs5bn on modernising jail facilities in the province, but to what end? The...
Updated 13 Aug, 2026

AJK outlook

AS the staggered polls for the AJK Legislative Assembly enter their final stretch, it appears that the PML-N is in a...
13 Aug, 2026

Food costs

THE State Bank’s warning that domestic food prices could rise more than expected in the near term deserves urgent...
13 Aug, 2026

Denied a future

FIVE years after the Taliban returned to Kabul, the world is still issuing statements while a generation of Afghan...