QUETTA, Pakistan — A bomb blast at a crowded railway station in Quetta, the capital of Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province, killed at least 24 people and injured more than 40 on Saturday, according to police and local officials, quoted by Pakistani media.
The explosion is the latest in a surge of attacks by separatist militants in Balochistan and Islamist insurgents in Pakistan’s northwest. The decades-long insurgency in Balochistan has created significant security challenges, complicating efforts to develop the province’s substantial natural gas and mineral resources.
Inspector General of Police for Balochistan, Mouzzam Jah Ansari, confirmed the death toll and said the blast targeted military personnel from the Infantry School. “The target was army personnel,” he noted, adding that many of the injured were in critical condition.
The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), a separatist group seeking independence for Balochistan, claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement sent to Reuters. The BLA is the largest of several insurgent groups in the province, which has a population of about 15 million and shares borders with Afghanistan and Iran. The group accuses the government of exploiting Balochistan’s rich natural resources without adequately benefiting the local population.
Dr. Wasim Baig, a spokesperson for the civil hospital in Quetta, said, “So far 44 injured people have been brought to the hospital.”
Senior Superintendent of Police Operations Muhammad Baloch said preliminary investigations indicated that the blast was a suicide bombing. “The explosion occurred inside the railway station just as the Peshawar-bound express train was preparing to depart,” he said.
The blast follows a wave of violence in August that left at least 73 people dead across Balochistan. Those attacks targeted police stations, railways, and highways and represented the most extensive campaign by separatist militants in years. The BLA and other groups are fighting for the secession of Balochistan, which is home to major infrastructure projects, including a port and a gold and copper mine, largely led by China.
