Baloch separatists have repeatedly attacked the Jaffar Express in the last few years. It is commonly used by security personnel, mostly from Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces. The last major attack on the train took place in November when a suicide bomber detonated himself at the Quetta railway station as it prepared to depart.

Pakistani security forces declared an end to ethnic separatists’ seizure of a train carrying more than 400 people.

The Pakistani government, facing a widening security crisis in the country’s restive southwest, has given little indication it intends to negotiate with the militants.