Train services suspended once again in Balochistan

QUETTA: Train operations have been suspended on Friday, a day after they were restarted, for a second time since a five-day suspension, as a spate of attacks continued in the restive province.

In a statement, the spokesperson of Pakistan Railways' Quetta division, Mr. Muhammad Kashif, said that the Jaffar Express, running from Quetta to Peshawar, and the Bolan Mail running to Karachi had been suspended again.

“The passenger train to Chaman also remains suspended,” he added.

Train services were restored a day earlier in the province of Balochistan, where the security situation had improved.

The authorities had earlier indicated on Thursday that mobile internet services in the region remain suspended in many areas of Balochistan, but Quetta was expected to go live again on Friday (today).

Thursday, after carrying out “mop-up” operations over the past few days in different areas of the province following the January 31 terror attacks, the military said that the security forces had succeeded in concluding “Operation Radd-ul-Fitna-1” in Balochistan, killing a total of 216 terrorists.

The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said that 36 civilians, including women and children, and 22 personnel of security forces and law enforcement agencies were martyred.

The broader operation included a number of operations based on intelligence, which were carried out in various areas to target terrorist sleeper cells through continued combing and sanitization operations," the ISPR stated.