The Jaffar Express train, carrying 440 passengers from Quetta to Peshawar, was ambushed on March 11, 2025, by militants from the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) in Balochistan. The attackers targeted the train by blowing up a railway track in Bolan, stopping the train, opening fire, injuring the driver, and taking hostages.

This led to a prolonged security operation lasting over 24 hours involving Pakistan’s army, air force, Frontier Corps, and Special Services Group, which successfully rescued the hostages and neutralized all 33 militants involved in the attack. Despite the severity of the assault, no passengers were harmed during the final clearance, though 21 people had fallen victim to the terrorists' brutality before the operation concluded.

A significant revelation from the investigation into the attack was the discovery of US-made weapons at the hijack site. Among the recovered arms was an M4A1 carbine rifle manufactured by Colt, an American arms maker. The rifle’s serial number confirmed it was originally supplied to US forces in Afghanistan and left behind during the chaotic US withdrawal in 2021.

The Washington Post, citing US Army and Pentagon confirmations, reported that at least 63 weapons examined had been officially supplied to Afghan security forces during the US mission in Afghanistan. These weapons, abandoned during the US exit, have since found their way into the hands of militants across the border in Pakistan, including the BLA and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), raising serious concerns about the long-term consequences of the US withdrawal.

Pakistani officials have expressed alarm over the presence of advanced US military equipment in the hands of insurgents, urging international efforts, including through the United Nations, to recover these weapons.

The incident underscores the ongoing security challenges in the region, as well as the complex fallout from the US military’s hasty departure from Afghanistan, which left behind billions of dollars worth of military hardware, including firearms, night-vision devices, and other sophisticated gear now used by militant groups to conduct attacks in Pakistan.

The Jaffar Express hijacking not only highlighted the threat posed by separatist militants in Balochistan but also exposed the troubling reality of US-supplied weapons abandoned in Afghanistan being repurposed by insurgents in neighbouring Pakistan, complicating regional security dynamics and counterterrorism efforts.

ANI