Jacobabad: At least two militants were injured while planting an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) at a railway track here late on Sunday night.
“Two terrorists were setting up a bomb to blow up the railway track in the town of Thul near Jacobabad. The planting went wrong and the device exploded prematurely, injuring the terrorists, who their comrades reportedly rescued,” sources told Samaa quoting a local police official.
According to latest reports, the security agencies are hot on the trail of the fleeing insurgents. However, there was no word on any arrests so far.
“An extensive manhunt has been launched. Police parties are combing the area in search of the militants as we speak,” District Police Officer (DPO) Jacobabad told media sources.
According to railway authorities, the track was not as damaged as they expected it to be. “The bomb broke off at least a three-foot-long part of the rails, suspending the traffic. It will be back on the track after repairs are underway right now,” a Pakistan Railways spokesman said.
Home Minister Sindh, Sohail Anwar Sial, has stepped in on the case and sought an immediate report from the Deputy Inspector General of Police of his hometown, Larkana. Sial, who was recently appointed provincial home minister, is a Pakistan People’s Party stalwart.
Sindhi nationalists/separatists have been carrying out bomb attacks on infrastructure like gas pipelines, railway tracks, branches of national banks, and transmission tower since 2003.
Jacobabad is a city in the province of Sindh. It is the capital of Jacobabad District and the administrative centre of Jacobabad Taluka, an administrative subdivision of the district.
The town was founded on the site of the village of Khangarh in 1847 by General John Jacob, for many years commandant of the Sind Horse, who died here in 1858. A memorial exists at the Victoria Tower in the heart of the city.