A suicide bomber has detonated an explosives-laden vehicle near a railway track as a passenger train passed through the south-western Pakistani city of Quetta, killing at least 19 people and wounding more than 70 others.
The force of the explosion caused two of the train carriages to overturn and catch fire, sending thick black smoke into the air, according to footage shared online.
The attack happened in an area where security forces are usually stationed, badly damaging several nearby buildings and smashing more than a dozen vehicles parked along the road, according to witnesses and images circulating on social media.
Doctors at local hospitals said they had received the injured, with 20 in a critical condition.
The outlawed Baloch Liberation Army, or BLA, which demands independence from Pakistan’s central government, has claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement sent to reporters. The militant group said it targeted a train carrying security personnel.
Quetta is the capital of insurgency-hit Balochistan province.
The oil and mineral-rich region has long been the scene of a low-level insurgency. The insurgents have frequently targeted security forces, government installations and civilians in the province and elsewhere in the country.
Shahid Rind, Balochistan provincial government spokesman, said: “We strongly condemn the targeting of innocent civilians and are deeply saddened by the loss of precious human lives. Terrorist elements deserve no leniency.”
He said following the explosion, a medical emergency was declared at hospitals in Quetta, and an investigation has been launched.
Although Pakistani authorities say they have quelled the insurgency, violence in Baluchistan has persisted.
At least 26 people, including soldiers, were killed in 2024 when a suicide bomber attacked a train station in Balochistan.
