Suicide bomber kills 25 at Pakistan train station

Photo: The site of a bomb blast at a railway station in Quetta, Pakistan, November 9, 2024

A suicide bombing at a busy railway station in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province has killed at least 25 people and injured more than 50.

Senior police officer Mohammad Baloch told reporters that the powerful blast at the station in the provincial capital of Quetta hit a passenger waiting area where about 100 people were waiting, Voice of America reported.

At least half of the dead and many of the wounded were Pakistani army personnel, who were the main target of the attack, police and medical officials said.

Shahid Rind, a provincial government spokesman, said at least 10 of the wounded were “in critical condition.”

The insurgent group Balochistan Liberation Army claimed responsibility for the attack, saying one of its suicide squad members carried out the attack on Pakistani troops.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the “terrorist” blast in Quetta and vowed to punish those behind the killing of “innocent civilians,” his office in Islamabad said.

The site of the attack in Mastung on September 29, 2023

Last week, a bomb blast in Mastung, in the same province, killed at least nine people, more than half of them schoolchildren. The attack targeted a police vehicle carrying security personnel conducting polio vaccinations.

Balochistan, known for its rich natural resources, has seen a surge in militant attacks that have killed hundreds this year alone.

The U.S. has designated the Balochistan Liberation Army a terrorist organization.

The insurgents claim their campaign of violence is aimed at winning the province's independence from Pakistan and accuse the central government of exploiting its resources.

Islamabad denies the charges, calling the militant group “enemies of development” in Balochistan and the country as a whole.

By Sergey Daga