Friday, 22 November 2024
Friday, 22 November 2024
At least 27 people, including 14 security forces were killed and 62 others injured in a bomb blast at a railway station in Quetta in southwestern Pakistan on Saturday, police and other officials said.
The explosion ripped through the railway station of the provincial capital Quetta as passengers gathered on the platform before the departure of the Jaffar Express, scheduled to depart for Peshawar at 9:00 am.
Quetta Division Commissioner Hamza Shafqaat said it was a suicide attack.
The suicide bomber had entered the station with luggage, the commissioner said, adding that was difficult to stop a person coming with an intention to carry out a suicide attack
Pakistan is grappling with a surge in strikes by separatist ethnic militants in Balochistan province in the south and Islamist militants in its northwest.
Quetta Senior Superintendent Police (SSP) Operations Muhammad Baloch said initial findings point to a possible suicide bombing.
A decades-old insurgency has destabilised Balochistan and created security concerns for projects trying to access the province's untapped resources.
Preliminary reports indicate that the explosion took place at the railway station's booking office.
The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), an ethnic Baloch separatist group designated as a terrorist organisation, has claimed responsibility for the attack. The BLA alleges that the federal government exploits Balochistan's resources while neglecting the province's development. However, the federal government dismisses these allegations and claims that foreign powers are manipulating disgruntled elements to perpetrate sabotage.
The suicide bombing comes a week after a blast near a girl’s school and a hospital in Balochistan’s Mastung district killed eight people, including five children.
Rescue and law enforcement teams responded immediately, securing the area and transporting the injured and deceased to Civil Hospital Quetta, according to the provincial government spokesperson Shahid Rind.
The BLA seeks independence for Balochistan, a province of about 15 million people that borders Afghanistan to the north and Iran to the west. The BLA is the biggest of several ethnic insurgent groups battling the government, saying it unfairly exploits the province's rich gas and mineral resources.
