E-Paper
Train attacked in Quetta, no casualties
No casualties were reported in the incident in mountainous Aab-e-Gom, 70 kms southeast of Quetta.
Suspected tribal militants in troubled southwest Pakistan opened fire on Monday on a passenger train and derailed the front section with a bomb, an official said.
No casualties were reported so far in the incident in mountainous Aab-e-Gom, about 70 kilometers southeast of Quetta, the city's railways controller Javed Shah told the agency.
Security forces who were riding on the express to the central city of Multan traded fire with the gunmen after the attack, Shah said.
"The train was going slow as it approached a station when it was attacked by gunfire," Shah said. "It slowed down further but as it did there was a bomb blast on the track."
The explosion derailed the diesel engine and the front two carriages of the Chiltan Express although they remained upright, the official said.
The incident happened in Balochistan province, which is in the grip of a sporadic insurgency by rebel tribesmen who are demanding more autonomy and greater profits from local gas and oil reserves.
It comes around a month after an express train derailed and crashed into a ravine in neighbouring Punjab province, killing four people. Officials blamed sabotage and said the tracks had been tampered with.
