Suicide bombing at a rail station in Pakistan kills at least 26

QUETTA, Pakistan —  A suicide bomber blew himself up at a train station in restive southwestern Pakistan on Saturday, killing at least 26 people, including soldiers and railway staff, and wounding about 62 others, some critically, officials said.

The attack happened while nearly 100 passengers were waiting in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province, for a train en route to the garrison city of Rawalpindi, according to Hamza Shafqaat, a senior government administrator.

When asked about a possible security breach before the bombing, Shafqaat told reporters that “it is usually very difficult to stop such suicide attacks.”

However, Shahid Nawaz, who is in charge of security at Quetta’s train station, said that there was no breach, and that the attacker was disguised as a passenger when he blew himself up.

TVs showed the steel structure of the platform’s roof, now blown apart, and a destroyed tea stall. Luggage was strewn everywhere. Most of the victims were taken to a state-owned hospital and some to a military one.

Wasim Baig, a spokesman for the health department and police, said more than a dozen soldiers and six railway employees were among the dead at the station, where a walk-through gate has been installed to check whether anyone is carrying explosives. Multiple other entrances to the station have no such security.

The separatist Balochistan Liberation Army claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement, saying the suicide bomber targeted troops at the station. The outlawed BLA has long waged an insurgency seeking independence.

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The separatists frequently attack soft targets, said Muhammad Baloch, a senior superintendent of police operations.

“When their people are arrested, they also attack in retaliation,” he said. “We all have to fight this war. We are resilient. Our teams are here and trying to save as many lives as we can.”

Police said some of the wounded passengers had died in the hospital, raising the death toll.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif denounced the bombing in a statement, saying that those who orchestrated the attack “will pay a very heavy price for it” and that security forces were determined to eliminate “the menace of terrorism.”

Afghanistan’s Foreign Ministry also condemned the bombing and expressed its condolences to the families of the victims, as did the Russian Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital.

Saturday’s assault came a little over a week after a powerful bomb attached to a motorcycle exploded near a vehicle carrying police officers assigned to protect polio workers in the province, killing nine people, including five children.

In August, the BLA carried out multiple coordinated attacks on passenger buses, police and security forces across Baluchistan, killing more than 50 people, mostly civilians.

Oil- and mineral-rich Baluchistan is Pakistan’s largest province in area but also its least populated. It is a hub for the country’s ethnic Baluch minority, whose members say they face discrimination and exploitation by the central government. Other separatist groups and Islamic militants also operate in the province.

The BLA mostly targets security forces and foreigners, especially Chinese nationals in Pakistan as part of Beijing’s multibillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative for major infrastructure work. The group often demands the halt of Chinese-funded projects and that such workers leave Pakistan.

Last month, the BLA claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing that targeted a convoy with Chinese nationals outside Karachi airport, killing two. Beijing has asked Pakistan to ensure Chinese citizens’ safety.

Sattar writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Asim Tanveer in Multan, Pakistan, contributed to this report.