Pakistan: Railways Under Fire
under unprecedented pressure in 2025, with Baloch insurgent groups intensifying a campaign of
sabotage, derailment, and direct armed assault. At the centre of this escalation has been the Jaffar
Express, a critical passenger and logistics artery linking Quetta with Punjab, repeatedly targeted in
what now appears to be a deliberate strategy of economic disruption, psychological warfare, and
symbolic defiance of state authority.
The most recent incident occurred on November 29, 2025, when an improvised explosive device
(IED) detonated on a railway track shortly before a train was due to arrive in Quetta. Railway
officials confirmed that roughly one and a half feet of track was destroyed, averting catastrophe
only because of timing. Just days earlier, on November 24, the Peshawar-bound Jaffar Express
escaped an armed ambush in the Bolan Pass area of Kachhi District, when suspected Baloch
insurgents opened fire from surrounding mountains. Security personnel on board retaliated, forcing
the attackers to withdraw. This marked the sixth attack on the Jaffar Express along the Quetta–Sibi
stretch in barely two months.
A similar pattern unfolded on November 16 in Nasirabad District, where an explosive planted on
the track detonated after the train had passed, damaging infrastructure and suspending rail traffic
between Quetta and the rest of the country. The Baloch Republican Guards (BRG) claimed
responsibility. Earlier attacks in October included rocket fire and small-arms attacks in Dera Murad
Jamali, a deadly blast that killed a Pakistan Railways worker near the Pat Feeder Canal bridge, and
a derailment in Sindh’s Shikarpur District that injured at least seven passengers. BRG again claimed
responsibility for that derailment, asserting—without independent confirmation—that military
personnel were the intended targets.
The violence was not confined to Balochistan alone. On September 23, an IED blast derailed six
bogies of the Jaffar Express near Spezand in Mastung District, injuring 12 people, including women
and children. According to Pakistan Railways officials, the train was carrying 270 passengers at the
time, underscoring the civilian risks inherent in this campaign.
According to partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), Pakistan recorded
18 attacks on railway infrastructure in 2025 up to November 30, resulting in 66 fatalities. Fourteen
of these attacks occurred in Balochistan, with the remaining four in Sindh. This represents a
dramatic escalation from 2024, when only two railway-related attacks were recorded, both in
Balochistan, killing 27 people.
Since March 2000, railways in Pakistan have been attacked at least 176 times, with 166 of these
incidents concentrated in Balochistan and Sindh. Of the 197 fatalities recorded in such attacks, 161
occurred in Balochistan alone. While railway sabotage peaked numerically between 2010 and
2014—with 104 attacks—it is 2025 that has proven deadliest, surpassing all previous years in
fatalities from rail-related violence.
The character of attacks has also evolved. Traditionally, rail sabotage aimed to disrupt logistics and
impose economic costs. In 2025, however, insurgent tactics increasingly emphasised spectacle, fear,
and mass impact. This shift became unmistakable with the March 11, 2025, hostage-taking incident
in Bolan Pass, when cadres of the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) halted the Jaffar Express and
seized around 400 passengers. The Government later confirmed 31 fatalities, including 23 Security
Forces personnel, and announced that all 33 attackers had been killed. The BLA, however,
countered with claims that it had executed 214 military hostages after negotiations failed—claims
that, while disputed, highlighted the group’s intent to escalate beyond infrastructure sabotage into
mass-casualty coercion.
This tactical turn was foreshadowed by the November 9, 2024, suicide bombing at Quetta Railway
Station, claimed by the BLA’s Majeed Brigade, which killed at least 31 people, including 17
Security Forces personnel. The attack directly targeted Army personnel associated with the Jaffar
Express, reinforcing the train’s status as both a logistical node and a symbolic extension of state
power.
The Jaffar Express occupies a unique place in Balochistan’s political economy. As one of the few
affordable and reliable links between the province and Pakistan’s core regions, it is a vital lifeline
for passengers, trade, and mobility in the country’s largest yet least developed province. Its route
through conflict-prone districts of Balochistan and Sindh makes it highly exposed, while its
association with state presence renders it an attractive target for insurgent messaging.
For Baloch insurgent groups—including the BLA, BRG, and allied outfits—the repeated targeting
of the Jaffar Express serves multiple purposes: disrupting supply chains, inflicting economic losses,
undermining public confidence in the state’s ability to secure critical infrastructure, and dramatizing
long-standing grievances over enforced disappearances, counter-insurgency operations, and
political marginalisation.
Railway attacks form part of a wider pattern of economic subversion pursued by separatist groups
in Balochistan and adjoining areas of Sindh. Sindhi outfits such as the Sindhudesh Liberation
Army are known to coordinate with Baloch groups, extending the arc of infrastructure vulnerability
beyond provincial boundaries.
The cumulative effect of these attacks has been severe: prolonged suspension of rail traffic, spoilage
of perishable goods, disruption of passenger movement, and the normalization of insecurity around
one of Pakistan’s most visible public services. More significantly, the shift from covert sabotage to
overt, high-impact violence signals an insurgency increasingly focused on psychological dominance
rather than mere economic attrition.
In this sense, the assault on the Jaffar Express is not simply an attack on a train. It is a direct
challenge to the Pakistani state’s writ, its developmental narrative, and its claim to normalcy in a
region where grievances remain unresolved and the conflict shows little sign of de-escalation.
