The Jaffar Express passenger train narrowly escaped an explosion in Pakistan’s Balochistan province on Sunday, just a day after services resumed following nearly a week-long suspension over security concerns.

The attack took place in the Nasirabad area, where insurgents targeted the train months after a deadly assault on the same service left 26 passengers dead. According to officials, suspected insurgents detonated explosives planted on the railway track used by the Jaffar Express on its route from Quetta to Peshawar.

The blast damaged a section of the track, but the train itself remained unharmed. Pakistan Railways temporarily halted services for several hours after the incident.

Nasirabad Senior Superintendent of Police Ghulam Sarwar said in a telephonic statement that security forces immediately reached the site and launched a search operation for the perpetrators. He confirmed that the damaged section of track had been repaired.

“The Jaffar Express runs through several remote mountainous terrains on its journey, and there are many areas where the insurgents can carry out their subversive activities,” he said.

Railway authorities had earlier suspended the train service between Quetta and Peshawar from November 9 to 12 due to security threats, later extending the suspension by two days. Services finally resumed on Saturday, Pakistan Railways said.

The Jaffar Express has been repeatedly targeted this year. The most severe attack occurred on March 11, when the banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) hijacked the train carrying 380 passengers, resulting in a two-day standoff in mountainous terrain and the deaths of 26 people. Security forces rescued 354 passengers, while 33 insurgents were killed.

In October, another explosion on a railway track in Sindh derailed five bogies of the train and left several people injured.

According to Sarwar, insurgents have carried out at least five attacks this year involving explosives planted on the tracks, and in one instance, rockets were fired at the train.

“In at least two of the incidents, bogies of the train were derailed and passengers injured, but now, since March, there is additional security on the train,” he said.