A suicide bomber struck a crowded railway station in southwestern Pakistan Saturday morning, killing at least 25 people and wounding 53 others, as the separatist Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for the attack.
The explosion ripped through a platform at Quetta’s main railway station around 9 a.m., when the area was bustling with passengers, according to Senior Police Superintendent Muhammad Baloch. The casualties included passengers, railway employees, and security personnel.
“There was a lot of chaos. People were running back and forth, people were lying martyred, some without legs and arms and hands,” witness Fareed told reporters at the scene.
Commissioner Hamza Shafqaat confirmed the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber. Security forces have cordoned off the area as investigations continue, and provincial Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti has ordered an inquiry into the incident.
The attack marks the latest escalation in Balochistan’s long-running insurgency, which has intensified since China leased the province’s deep-water Gwadar port as part of Beijing’s Belt and Road infrastructure initiative in Pakistan. The BLA has carried out several deadly attacks this year, including an October assault on Chinese engineers and investors in Karachi that killed two Chinese citizens.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif strongly condemned the attack in a statement.
