Baloch rebels in Pakistan attack Punjab again, train derailed in Multan

At least two people were killed and four injured in a blast on the Jaffar Express that plies between Balochistan and Peshawar. The blast occurred on Thursday morning near the Chichawatni railway station in the Multan division of Pakistan’s Punjab.

The Baask Media of the Baloch Nationalist Army (BNA) claimed responsibility for the Jaffar Express train attack. The Pakistani media has, however, not named any organisation involved in the attack.

ARY News reports that the nature of the blast is still unknown, adding that “police, rescue teams and a bomb disposal squad arrived at the  site and launched rescue operation”.

Pakistani newspaper Dawn quoted Multan Deputy Superintendent Hammad Hasan as saying that teams of the police and Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) have cordoned off the area and begun investigations.

This is the second attack on the Jaffar Express in barely a month by Baloch separatists. Earlier they had targeted the train which was reportedly ferrying Pakistani soldiers to reinforce troops in Balochistan – reeling from a full-fledged nationalist insurgency. The earlier attack took place at Bolan on January 20, derailing six bogies and injuring eight people.

Geopolitical analyst on Balochistan, Mark Kinra told India Narrative: “A significant aspect of today’s attack is that the BNA had been lying low since last year after its chief Gulzar Imam had been trapped in mysterious circumstances from somewhere between Afghanistan and Turkey. This marks a big comeback for the group and also points to increasing headache for Pakistan as the area of attacks is growing bigger”.

Kinra added that the BNA attack reiterates that even after arrest of its top leadership, the group can hold itself together, strategise future attacks and a new leadership has the capacity to assume this role.

Citing another example, Kinra says: “In the past also, after the killing of BLA leader Aslam Baloch in Afghanistan in 2018, Bashir Zeb Baloch took control of the organization and BLA is considered most battle intensive organization among Baloch groups”.

The attack points to the worsening security situation in the country, more so as it took place in Pakistan’s Punjab – the most important province of the country. This is the second attack in Punjab in the past fortnight. In the earlier attack, heavily-armed Pakistani Taliban militants launched a night raid at a police station in Mianwali in Punjab just days after the suicide bombing on a Peshawar mosque.

Pakistan’s deteriorating security situation has scared Beijing, which has warned its nationals to take precautions and increase their security. Diplomatic relations between the nations are wearing thin due to safety concerns for Chinese nationals.

Also read: Top Pak general killed in downed helicopter ordered enforced disappearances: Baloch insurgents