The Pakistan train attacked seven times this year alone

Jaffar Express, which runs through restive Balochistan, has been repeatedly targeted by separatists.

- By Namita Singh

The Jaffar Express – which runs for 1,000 miles between Peshawar in Pakistan's northwest and Quetta in its troubled southwest – is fast becoming the country's most dangerous train.

In 2025 alone, it has been bombed, hijacked, shot at, and derailed at least seven times, making it a key target of militant violence.

At least seven people were injured on Tuesday when a powerful blast tore through the train, in the latest incident derailing four of its coaches near Sultan Kot railway station in Sindh province.

The explosion, caused by an improvised explosive device (IED), was the seventh attack this year on a passenger train that connects the insurgency-hit province of Balochistan with the rest of Pakistan.

Police said about five pounds of explosives were used in the device, which detonated on the tracks as the Quetta-bound train travelled from Peshawar.

“At least seven people were injured, one of them seriously, when four bogies overturned as a result of a blast near Sultan Kot railway station this morning,” a senior police officer told Arab News. The injured were moved to hospital, where all are now said to be in stable condition.

Sindh’s home minister, Zia-ul-Hassan Lanjar, ordered an immediate investigation. “Terrorists involved in damaging the railway track will soon be brought to justice,” he said, promising a “thorough investigation” to identify the perpetrators.

By evening, the Baloch Republican Guards (BRG), an armed separatist group, claimed responsibility for the bombing.

In a statement, the group said: “The train was attacked at a time when personnel of the occupying Pakistani Army were travelling on board. As a result of the explosion, several soldiers were killed and injured, and six coaches of the train derailed.” The group added that “such operations will continue until the independence of Balochistan”, reported the Firstpost.