QUETTA, Pakistan — In the district of Bolan, the Jaffar Express was attacked by bomb blasts on the railway track. Which killed six and wounded 18 others, in the morning (local time).
According to a police official, the bomb blasts detonated one after another with an interval of 20 minutes, in the Bolan district of Aab-e-Gum mountainous region.
Twin bomb blast attack railway line in Balochistan
The injured were taken to the Military Combined Hospital by helicopter, hospital sources have confirmed five of the wounded are critical.
Chief Minister, Sanaullah Zehri condemned the attack and advised the Balochistan police inspector general to inquire about the incident and submit a report to the government.
The attack on the Jaffar Express is not claimed by any group. The region is a hotbed for the Baloch separatists who have attacked the government installations in the past.
The Baloch separatism in Balochistan:
The Baloch nationalists are having their movement to free the province from Pakistan. And they have been active in the region targeting government installations and strategic points as well as security personnel and officials.
The current China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) would be going through the province to its deep seaport in Gawadar. The said China and Pakistan project is condemned by the Baloch freedom movement, who believe that the demographic change and loot of their natural resources of the province would be increased with a joint effort by China and Pakistan. Salam Sabir, one of the Baloch youth who lives in Europe, told ArmedPolitics.
On the other hand the Pakistani government believes that the CPEC would be a boost in the Pakistani economy and development of the provinces.
“CPEC like projects, nations get in centuries,” says Ahsan Iqbal, Pakistan’s federal minister for planning, development and reforms, while talking to a meeting of young anchors. “Pakistani nation is committed to the success of the China Pakistan Economic Project.”
A controversy among the Punjab and other provinces is reported. The nationalists from Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces have lashed out at central government for diverting the route of CPEC from the least developed areas and provinces, Sanna Ejaz, a socio-political activist and critic of the project told ArmedPolitics.
(Reporting by Malik Achakzai; Editing by Robyn Hunter & Wenzel Frick)
