KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Pakistani media reported that Gul Rahman, identified as the mastermind behind the deadly Jaffar Express attack in Balochistan earlier this year, has been killed in southern Afghanistan.
Geo News, citing security sources, reported that Gul Rahman, also known as Ustad Mureed, was killed in Helmand province on September 17 under unclear circumstances.
Rahman was described as a senior commander of the Majeed Brigade, the suicide squad of the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), a separatist group banned in Pakistan. Officials in Islamabad often refer to the group as “Fitna al-Hindustan.”
According to the reports, Rahman was also linked to a series of operations targeting Pakistani citizens, members of the security forces, Chinese nationals, and infrastructure linked to the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
The Jaffar Express was attacked in March in Bolan district of Balochistan while traveling from Quetta to Peshawar with more than 400 passengers on board. Militants ambushed the train in a mountainous area, taking hundreds of people hostage, including women and children. At least 26 passengers, among them 18 soldiers, were killed before a day-long rescue operation ended the siege. The Pakistani army said 33 insurgents were killed in the operation.
The BLA claimed responsibility for the attack, saying its fighters targeted security personnel on the train.
Pakistan’s military spokesperson, Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, later said communications intercepted during the assault showed that the attackers were in contact with handlers in Afghanistan. He also claimed that the militants had used Afghan and foreign-made weapons in the attack.
In response to the incident, Pakistan summoned the Taliban’s chargé d’affaires in Islamabad, Sardar Ahmad Shekib, to lodge a protest. Islamabad demanded that the Taliban hand over those responsible and prevent groups such as the BLA and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) from operating on Afghan soil.
Pakistan has long accused the Taliban of sheltering militants, including the BLA and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), and supplying them with advanced equipment to conduct cross-border attacks. The Taliban has repeatedly denied the allegations.
