The Ghost of Disaster: How the Jaffar Express Dodged a Bomb in Balochistan

Imagine, if you will, the rhythmic clatter of steel on steel, the gentle sway of a passenger carriage, the mundane sounds of a journey from Quetta to Peshawar. That was the scene aboard the Jaffar Express on a recent Sunday morning, filled with countless souls — each lost in their own thoughts, perhaps staring out at the vast, rugged landscapes of Balochistan. And then, in a truly chilling twist of fate, their journey almost ended in unimaginable horror.

It was near the Sibi railway station, in the sprawling Nasirabad district, where the air suddenly fractured. A remote-controlled device, officials would later confirm, detonated with an unforgiving roar. But here’s the crucial, almost miraculous detail: the explosion ripped through the tracks just moments after the train’s final carriage had cleared the spot. Not as it approached, not as it passed directly over, but after. A whisker, a breath, a fraction of a second – that’s all that stood between ordinary travel and catastrophe.

The sheer relief, one can only assume, must have been palpable. For once, it seems, luck was firmly on the side of the travelers. Divisional Superintendent (DS) Nisar Khan, a railway official, was quick to confirm the harrowing incident, stating, quite simply, that the train had indeed narrowly escaped. No casualties. Let that sink in for a moment. No lives lost. Just the raw, unsettling reality of a plot thwarted by mere timing.

Of course, there was damage. A section of the track lay twisted and broken, a stark testament to the blast’s power. Train traffic, naturally, ground to a halt as engineers and crews rushed to the scene, commencing urgent repairs. A disruption, yes, a delay for sure, but an inconvenience that felt utterly insignificant in the face of what could have been.

And then, the chilling claim of responsibility. The outlawed Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) wasted little time, issuing a statement to the media, proudly taking credit for this attempted act of terror. It’s a stark, painful reminder, isn’t it, of the persistent insurgency that plagues this often-troubled region. For the people of Balochistan, such incidents, sadly, are not entirely unheard of; they are, in truth, a grim backdrop to daily life.

The Jaffar Express carried on, eventually. The tracks were mended, the journey resumed. But the memory of that Sunday morning, the ghost of a disaster so narrowly averted, surely lingered in the minds of everyone aboard. It serves as a powerful, unsettling testament to both the fragility of peace and, perhaps, the quiet resilience of those who continue to travel, to live, and to hope amidst such ever-present dangers.