Balochistan unrest: Four killed, 10 injured in attack on train

Prayer leader of Jamia Mosque Moulana Israr Ahmad killed when unidentified motorcyclists opened fire.

QUETTA:

Four people were killed on Saturday in an attack on a Quetta-bound train in the Machh area of Bolan district, some 45 kilometres southeast of Quetta.

According to Levies sources, the Jaffar Express was heading towards Quetta from Rawalpandi and was passing the Paner area of Machh, when armed men from nearby mountains opened indiscriminate fire on passengers and the security guards of the train. As a result, four people, including a security force member, were killed in the shooting. Ten others were wounded, while the locomotive and a wagon of the train were damaged in the attack, sources said.

Machh Assistant Commissioner Kashif Nabi confirmed the attack and said several people were wounded. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far.

Several attacks have been carried out in the past by Baloch militants on trains, particularly in Bolan district and the entire plain from Jacobabad to Sibi.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 6^th, 2013.