At least 26 people are killed in a powerful suicide bombing at a train station in southwestern Pakistan

Security officials investigate the scene of a bomb explosion at the train station in Quetta, southwestern Pakistan, Saturday, November 9, 2024. (Arshad Butt/AP)

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

The attack occurred as nearly 100 passengers waited for a train traveling from Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province, to the garrison city of Rawalpindi, said Hamza Shafqaat, a senior government official.

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

However, Shahid Nawaz, who is in charge of security at Quetta railway station, insisted there was no breach as the attacker was disguised as a passenger and blew himself up among people at the station.

TV images showed that the steel structure of the roof of the platform had been blown apart and that a tea stall had been destroyed. Luggage was scattered everywhere. Most of the victims were taken to a state hospital and some to a military hospital.

Wasim Baig, a spokesman for the health department and police, said more than a dozen soldiers and six railway workers were among the dead at the station, where a walk-through gate has been installed to check whether anyone is carrying explosives. Yet there are several other entrances to the station without such security.

A separatist group, the Balochistan Liberation Army, claimed the attack in a statement, saying a suicide bomber targeted troops present at the railway station. The banned BLA has long been waging an insurgency seeking independence from Islamabad.

A senior superintendent of police operations, Muhammad Baloch, said separatists regularly attacked soft targets.

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

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

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

The Afghan Foreign Ministry also condemned the bombings and expressed condolences to the families of the victims, as did the Russian embassy in Islamabad.

Saturday’s attack came just 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 who were nearby.

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

Oil and mineral-rich Balochistan is Pakistan’s largest but least populated province. It is a hub for the country’s Baloch ethnic minority, whose members say they face discrimination and exploitation by the central government. In addition to separatist groups, Islamic militants are also active in the province.

The BLA mainly targets security forces and foreigners, especially Chinese nationals who are in Pakistan as part of Beijing’s multibillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative, which is working on major infrastructure projects. The group often demands the halt of all Chinese-funded projects and that workers leave Pakistan to prevent further attacks.

Last month, the BLA claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing targeting a convoy of Chinese nationals outside Karachi airport, killing two. Beijing has asked Pakistan to ensure the safety of its citizens working in Balochistan and other parts of the country.

Associated Press writer Asim Tanveer in Multan, Pakistan, contributed to this report.