Pakistan accuses India of involvement in Jaffar Express attack

Foreign Office (FO) Spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan on Thursday accused India of being behind Tuesday’s deadly terrorist attack on the Jaffar Express in the Bolan district of Balochistan.

Addressing his weekly briefing in Islamabad, the FO spokesperson claimed that intelligence suggests the terrorists were in contact with their associates in Afghanistan.

He stated that intercepted calls confirmed a connection between the attackers and Afghanistan.

“The terrorists have safe havens in Afghanistan, and Pakistan has repeatedly urged the Afghan interim government to prevent groups like the BLA from using its soil for terrorism,” he said.

The FO spokesperson’s remarks came a day after Pakistan’s security forces successfully conducted the two-day-long Green Bolan rescue operation, eliminating all 33 terrorists who had hijacked the Jaffar Express.

On Tuesday at noon, a group of terrorists launched an attack on a train en route to Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), from Quetta, the capital of Balochistan, carrying over 400 passengers. Following the assault, the terrorists took passengers hostage.

In a statement, the ISPR said that intelligence reports have unequivocally confirmed that the attack was orchestrated and directed by terrorist ringleaders operating from Afghanistan, who remained in direct communication with the attackers throughout the incident.

Director General (DG) Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, while speaking to a private media channel minutes after the completion of the rescue operation, claimed that security forces had eliminated all 33 Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) terrorists who had hijacked the Jaffar Express. However, 21 passengers were martyred by the terrorists before the clearance operation commenced, he said.

The military’s media wing spokesperson stated that the army, air force, Frontier Corps (FC), and Special Services Group had participated in the operation and successfully recovered the hostages.

He also mentioned that Pakistan does not discuss diplomatic contacts on public forums but has consistently shared detailed evidence of such incidents with Afghanistan.

On Thursday, Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun alleged in a statement that India’s notorious intelligence agency, Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), was behind Tuesday's terrorist attack on the Jaffar Express in Balochistan.

Urging international organisations to take action against India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and RAW, Pannun warned that if India was not held accountable, their next attack could claim even more innocent lives.

Pannun claimed that the Balochistan train attack is evidence of India’s aggressive defence doctrine, adding that India seeks to destabilise neighbouring countries through covert terrorist operations and is involved in the assassinations of opponents abroad, extremism, and cross-border terrorism.