Islamabad, Nov 9 (EFE).- A suicide bombing at a train station in southwest Pakistan killed at least 24 people, police said Saturday.
The attack in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province, struck a busy ticketing office, causing widespread panic and destruction.
“The blast took place inside the railway station when a Peshawar-bound express was about to leave for its destination,” Quetta senior superintendent of police operations Muhammad Baloch told reporters.
The city commissioner, Hamza Shafqaat, confirmed in a statement to the press that the blast was a suicide attack. According to Shafqaat, the suicide bomber entered the station with luggage.
Security footage broadcast by local television channels shows dozens of people waiting on the platform before the explosion.
Shafqaat also confirmed that law enforcement personnel were among those killed in the attack. The blast occurred as Pakistani army infantrymen were returning from a training course.
Police sources quoted by the Pakistani news channel Geo News, said several of the wounded are in critical condition and the death toll could rise.
The armed separatist group Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), has claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing, saying it targeted army personnel at the station.
Insurgent violence in Balochistan and in the neighboring province Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which both border Afghanistan, has increased significantly in recent years.
Pakistani security forces and separatist groups fighting for greater autonomy or independence for the province frequently clash.
Baloch nationalists argue that the region’s natural resources, such as gas and oil, are exploited for the benefit of other parts of the country, without the inhabitants of Balochistan receiving fair compensation.
Last week, another blast near a school and hospital in another Balochistan town killed eight people, including five children. EFE
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