Attack on Jaffar Express: Naqvi must become part of solution

Yesterday’s Sibi incident has sent shivers down everybody’s spine. There were reports of intense firing at Jaffar Express, which was heading from Quetta to Peshawar. Comprising nine coaches, the train had at least 500 passengers on board.

The Balochistan government officials have said that the train was stopped by armed men in Tunnel 8. According to media reports, an explosion was heard near the tunnel and the security personnel were exchanging fire with the militants in the mountainous area.

Nobody, I think, knew that things in Balochistan will ultimately come to such a pass or the situation will deteriorate or become so bad that it will reach a point of a profound crisis or extreme difficulty.

Quoting officials, media reports also said that the scale of the attack was being determined. But I strongly believe that this incident clearly shows that the Balochistan fire is burning out of control. That this beleaguer province has become increasingly chaotic and unpredictable is a fact.

Both federal and provincial governments seem to have run out of solutions to the simmering cauldron of country’s most backward province. Interior minister Mohsin Naqvi has reacted to the incident by saying, among other things, that “the beasts who fire on innocent passengers do not deserve concessions”.

He’s absolutely right. But he needs to pull his socks up without any further loss of time in view of the fact that there is an alarming increase in the number of terror attacks, particularly in KP and Balochistan, in recent weeks and months. He must become a solution to the problem; not a part of problem.

Samiullah Mandokhel

Quetta

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025