10 low-intensity explosions at railway tracks across Sindh

Three people injured in Karachi; damage to tracks insignificant.

KARACHI/SUKKUR/HYDERABAD: Just as railway officials were starting to celebrate greater business, thanks to PIA protests, at least 10 low-intensity explosions echoed across the province on Friday, damaging railway tracks and suspending the service for hours. By noon, however, rail traffic between Sindh and Punjab was back on track.

Following the route of the trains, the explosions started from Karachi and ended at Setharja in Sukkur.

At least three people were hurt in the two blasts at the tracks near Baloch Colony, Karachi, which took place, one after the other, at around 5:55 am.

“A single group is behind this series of blasts from Karachi to Nawabshah,” said CID Sindh (Investigations) SP Mazhar Mashwani. A Sindhi terrorist organisation might be responsible since it has carried out similar attacks in the past, he added.

The injured men, Sarwar, 20, Bunyad, 35, and Ghulamuddin, 33, were taken to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre.

The explosions damaged around a foot-and-a-half portion of the tracks, said Jamshed Town SP Amir Farooqi. “Service was restored 30 minutes later.”

Each bomb contained half a kilogram of explosives, said a bomb disposal squad (BDS) official. “The locally-made bombs were exploded with a manual safety fuse similar to the burning substance used in the bomb blasts at the two police stations in Karachi,” he said.

Some residents claimed that they had seen people planting the bombs. “I saw two people near the tracks just before the explosions,” said Mukhtar Ahmed, quickly adding that he had no idea that the suspects had been planting a bomb.

The residents also demanded better security around the tracks. Officials from the Crime Investigation Department, the Special Investigation Unit and the Federal Investigation Agency also inspected the blast site. SP Mashwani said the attacks appeared to aim at creating panic rather than damaging trains. Investigators have started questioning witnesses. They have also registered an FIR against unidentified persons on the complaint of railway inspector Shiraz Ahmed.

Pakistan Railway police, Sindh, has found leaflets of the militant organisation, Sindhu Desh, from the blast sites. SP Railway Muzaffar Sheikh told The Express Tribune that a security contingency plan has already been made to protect the railway tracks with the assistance of the Sindh police. Around-the-clock patrolling has also begun and it would work in three shifts. “Around 70 pickets are also being set up from Karachi to Tando Adam.”

Hyderabad

Early in the morning, two bombs exploded at the Hussainabad Guddu railway tracks near Bengali Colony. Windows of nearby houses exploded while people woke up and came out of their homes in panic. Soon after, two bombs exploded at the tracks of a small railway station, Nawaz Daheri, eight kilometres from Nawabshah.

Damage to the tracks stopped the service between Sindh and Punjab. The Zakaria Express, Allama Iqbal Express and Karakoram Express were stopped at the Nawabshah station while the Khyber Mail and Millat Express were halted at the Hyderabad station. Two hours later, the trains resumed their itineraries. The Hussinabad police supervising officer Anwar Durrani said that a “nationalist” party had claimed responsibility for the attacks.

The Hyderabad BDS incharge said the locally-made bombs used around two to two-and-a-half pounds of explosives. The explosions damaged around two feet of tracks while a foot-long piece flew and damaged a nearby house’s roof.

Sukkur

Around 6:30 am, two bombs exploded at the tracks near Mehrabpur. However, the explosions barely managed any damage and after minor repairs, service between Rohri and Karachi resumed.

The Sukkur bomb disposal squad (BDS) had barely cleared the Mehrabpur tracks when two bombs exploded near Mohammadpur around 10:45 am and trains had to screech to a halt once again. This time too, there were no damages and clearance was given swiftly.

BDS Sukkur Inspector Tahir Malik said that two bombs were planted at the tracks at mile 398/13 between Mehrabpur and Setharja railway stations. Both the bombs were locally made and weighed a kilogram each. They were detonated by a remote control. Similar bombs were used in the attack at Ghotki, which occurred near Jari Wah.

According to informed sources, pamphlets of the Sindhu Liberation Army were found near the explosion sites. Ghotki SP Investigations Yar Mohammad Rind, however, denied finding any pamphlets and added that no arrests have been made yet.

Pakistan Railways Divisional Superintendent, Sukkur division, Roshan Ali Mangi said it was lucky the bombs did not damage the tracks otherwise repairs would have taken a lot of time - and money. He said that the railway police are responsible for the security of the tracks in the areas around every railway station while the district police is supposed to monitor the tracks between two railway stations.

With additional input from Junaid Khanzada and Altaf Koti

Published in The Express Tribune, February 12^th, 2011.