In the fall of 2018, Punjab tied Jaffar Express The twin explosions had escaped little after the Baloch rebels tried to fly the passenger train using remote controlled explosive devices. The devices had exploded when the train was about 200 feet away.
Tuesday’s attack is not an isolated incident. The train often carries personnel from Pakistani forces From Quetta to Punjab and vice versa, which makes it a hot goal for groups such as Balach Liberation Army (Bla) and TTP (Tehreek-E-Taliban Pakistan). In 2023, the train was attacked twice in two months and in the same place.
On January 19, at least 13 people were injured after a bomb explosion derailed the train when it passed through the Bolan district, about 150 km from Quetta. Approximately a month later, another explosion was reported on the train that was heading since Quetta to Peshawar, killing at least one passenger and hurting a dozen. In November last year, at least 26 people died and more than 40 were injured, including women and children, in an explosion at the Quetta railway station.
For more than 20 years, Bla has been fighting a low intensity insurgency in Baluchistan, trusting the traditional guerrillas. However, a significant change is being witnessed since 2018, since the group has begun to use suicidal attacks and planned operations.
The first testament of this change in the strategy was seen in August 2018 when Bla attacked a bus with Chinese engineers. This marked Bla’s Renaissance suicide bombardment Unit, Majeed Brigade, who is named after a BL BL commander killed by Pak Military in Quetta in 2010.
Since the 2018 attack, Bla has carried out more than a dozen main suicidal bombings in areas such as Gwadar, Karachi, Tobat, Bolan, sending Pak’s government to a Tizzy Government.
Bla has also launched an offensive against China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
The last October, the Majeed Brigade made an attack of “improvised explosive device transmitted by suicidal vehicles” aimed at a Chinese convoy of engineers and investors that leave the Jinnah International Airport, Karachi. The explosion resulted in around 50 deaths, including Chinese citizens and their security staff. The bombings in Darul Uuloom Haqqania, aka ‘University of Jihad’ and the murders of clergy like Mufti Shah Mir are recent examples.
In 2016, the military had established a “Special Security Division” to protect Chinese expansionist projects and aim at Baloch’s political and social activists. Mir directed one of the death squads formed for this purpose. While Bla raises an important challenge, it is not the only concern for the Pakistani government. TTP has also intensified its offensive against Pakistan this year. Last week, more than a dozen security personnel were killed in bombing attacks of twin suicides in a military base in Bannu.
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