At least 26 people have been killed and more than 60 wounded in a bombing at a crowded railway station in Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province, according to police and health officials.
The explosion on Saturday happened as nearly 100 passengers waited on a platform at about 8:45am local time (03:45 GMT) in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan, for a train to Peshawar.
“The death toll from the powerful blast has risen to 26,” said Wasim Baig, a spokesperson for Balochistan’s health department.
Baig said that more than a dozen soldiers and six railway employees were among the dead at the station and that 62 people were wounded, many of whom were in critical condition.
Pakistan’s largest and poorest province, resource-rich Balochistan, is home to separatist armed groups and has been a frequent target of deadly attacks. The province borders Afghanistan and Iran.
The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for the attack, saying in a statement that a suicide bomber targeted troops present at the railway station.
The outlawed BLA has long waged an armed rebellion seeking independence from Islamabad. It is the biggest of several ethnic rebel groups battling the government, claiming it unfairly exploits the province’s gas and mineral resources.
“Since the beginning of 2024, we’ve really seen a surge of violence in Balochistan. So many attacks on security forces”, journalist Saadullah Akhter, who witnessed the aftermath of the attack, told Al Jazeera.
“But this is the first time that the centre of Quetta has been targeted, and it is very shocking to many people.”
Shahid Rind, a provincial government spokesperson, said the bombing seemed to have been a suicide attack, but an investigation was ongoing to confirm the claim by BLA, which is designated a terrorist group by Pakistan, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Security personnel were still collecting evidence and assessing the intensity of the explosion, Akhter said.
Broadcast footage showed bloodied clothes and other personal items scattered on the platform as uniformed personnel inspected the area following the blast, with the steel structure of the platform’s roof blown apart.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif denounced the bombing, saying those who orchestrated the attack “will pay a very heavy price for it”, adding that security forces were determined to eliminate “the menace of terrorism”.
The government’s military operation to suppress the separatist movement in the province has resulted in widespread human rights abuses against Baloch dissenters, including disappearances, torture and extrajudicial killings.
In August, the BLA claimed responsibility for coordinated attacks by dozens of assailants who killed at least 39 people.
Armed assailants killed 20 miners and injured seven in October at a small private coal mine in the Dukki district of Balochistan.
In the past, armed groups also targeted energy projects with foreign financing – most notably from China – accusing outsiders of exploiting the region while excluding residents from the profits.
Thousands of Chinese nationals work in Pakistan, many of whom are involved in Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative, a multibillion-dollar infrastructure project.
Imtiaz Gul, an analyst at the Center for Research and Security Studies think tank, said the attack was likely connected to Balochistan’s port city of Gwadar, where the port authority complex is part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) infrastructure and investment project.
“This is not only going to be a commercial and industrial port but also being perceived by outsiders as a strategic staging port for the Chinese,” Gul told Al Jazeera, adding that multiple armed groups “have openly vowed to disrupt the Chinese and attack them wherever possible”.
