At least 24 killed in railway station bombing in Pakistan’s Quetta

Balochistan Liberation Army, a separatist group, claims responsibility for ‘suicide’ attack.

At least 24 people have been killed and more than 40 wounded in a bombing at a railway station in Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province, according to authorities.

The explosion on Saturday happened as nearly 100 passengers waited on a platform at about 8:45am (03:45 GMT) in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan, for a train to Peshawar.

Pakistan’s largest and poorest province, resource-rich Balochistan, is home to separatist armed fighters and has been a frequent target of deadly bombings. 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 insurgent groups battling the government, saying 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 spokesman, said the bombing seemed to have been a suicide attack, but an investigation was ongoing to confirm the BLA’s claim.

Security personnel were still collecting evidence and assessing the intensity of the explosion, Akhter said.

Images posted online showed bloodied clothes and other personal items scattered on the platform as uniformed