THIS is the horror moment at least 24 people were killed after an alleged suicide bomber blew himself up at a train station in Pakistan.
A further 50 people were injured after the blast in the country’s Balochistan province, officials said on Saturday.
ReutersPeople walk amid the debris after a bomb blast at a railway station in Quetta, Pakistan[/caption]
ReutersThe horror blast took place on Saturday morning[/caption]
ReutersPlain-clothed police officers survey the site following the explosion[/caption]
The attack happened when nearly 100 passengers were waiting for a train to travel to the city of Rawalpindi from Quetta, a senior government administrator said.
Police said about a dozen security forces are also among the dead.
TV footage showed the steel structure of the platform’s roof blown apart and a tea stall destroyed as luggage littered the place.
Ayesha Faiz, a Quetta police official, said some of the critically wounded passengers died at the hospital, raising the death toll.
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 outlawed BLA has long waged an insurgency seeking independence from Islamabad.
Passenger Abdul Jabbar said he had just bought a ticket from the booking office and was entering the station when the blast happened, the BBC reports.
He said: “I can’t describe the horror I faced today, it was like a judgement day has come.”
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif denounced the bombing in a statement, saying those who orchestrated the attack will pay a very heavy price for it,” adding that security forces were determined to eliminate the menace of terrorism.
The attack 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 Balochistan, killing nine people including five nearby children.
The oil- and mineral-rich Balochistan is Pakistans largest but also least populated province.
It is also a hub for the countrys ethnic Baloch minority whose members say they face discrimination and exploitation by the central government.
Along with separatist groups, Islamic militants also operate in the province.
The BLA often targets security forces and foreigners, especially Chinese nationals who are in Pakistan as part of Beijings multibillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative, which is building major infrastructure projects.
The group often demands the halt of all Chinese-funded projects and for workers to leave Pakistan to avoid further attacks.
Last month, the BLA claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing that targeted a convoy with Chinese nationals outside the Karachi airport, killing two.
Since then, Beijing has asked Pakistan to ensure the safety of its citizens working on multiple projects in Balochistan and other parts of the country.
The attack came a week before Pakistan was to host a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a security grouping founded by China and Russia to counter Western alliances.
The spokesman for the separatist group, Junaid Baloch, said that one of their suicide bombers targeted the convoy of Chinese engineers and investors as they left the airport.
In March, in northwestern Pakistan, a suicide bombing killed five Chinese engineers and their Pakistani driver as they headed to the Dasu Dam, the country’s biggest hydropower project.
What is the BLA?
THE Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) is an armed separatist group based in Pakistan’s southwestern province of Balochistan.
The group seeks independence for Balochistan, citing economic exploitation, marginalization, and a lack of political autonomy as reasons for their struggle.
The BLA is considered a terrorist organization by Pakistan, the United States, and several other countries.
The group emerged in the early 2000s, but its roots trace back to earlier Baloch nationalist movements from the 1970s.
Their primary goal is the establishment of an independent Baloch state, separate from Pakistan.
Balochistan is rich in natural resources, including gas, oil, and minerals, but its residents often claim they do not benefit from these resources.
The BLA accuses the Pakistani state of exploiting these resources for the benefit of other regions.