A deadly explosion ripped through a train carrying military personnel in Pakistan’s restive southwestern province of Balochistan, killing at least 24 people and leaving more than 50 wounded, a senior official said.
Army servicemen were among the dead in the attack in the provincial capital, Quetta, the official told AFP, underscoring the scale of violence in a region long plagued by separatist militancy.
The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) militant group claimed responsibility, while Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif denounced what he called a “cowardly” act of terrorism.
Photos from the scene showed a train carriage twisted and toppled onto its side, as survivors and rescuers clambered over wreckage in a frantic search for those trapped.
In the aftermath, blood-stained victims were carried away on stretchers from a derailed car, as armed security personnel formed a perimeter around the site.
According to the local official, the train was transporting army personnel and their family members from Quetta to Peshawar in Pakistan’s northwest.
The blast struck as the train passed a signal at Chaman Pattak in Quetta, the official said, when an explosive-laden car rammed one of the carriages, triggering a powerful explosion.
The shockwave blew out windows and wrecked vehicles nearby, adding to the destruction along the route.
Another official told AFP the soldiers were travelling ahead of the Eid holiday, which is set to begin on Tuesday.
‘Running for shelter’
Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest province by land area and its poorest, trails much of the country across key measures such as education, employment and economic development.
Separatist groups in the province accuse the federal government of profiting from Balochistan’s natural gas and rich mineral reserves while leaving local communities without meaningful gains.
A police official said the improvised explosive device used in the attack weighed about 35kg.
They said police and security agencies had launched an investigation into the bombing.
The BLA, considered the most active separatist militant group in the province, said in a statement sent to AFP that it carried out the attack.
The group — designated a terrorist organisation by the United States — said it has targeted military installations, as well as police and civil administration officials, in gun assaults and suicide bombings.
In recent years, the BLA has stepped up attacks on Pakistanis from other provinces working in Balochistan, along with foreign energy companies operating in the region.
Last year, separatists attacked a train carrying 450 passengers, setting off a deadly siege that lasted two days.
Sharif condemned the “heinous bomb explosion… which has resulted in the tragic loss of innocent lives and left many others injured”.
“Such cowardly acts of terrorism cannot weaken the resolve of the people of Pakistan,” he said.
“I express my heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims and pray for the swift recovery of the injured.”
