At least 24 people have been killed and 70 injured in a suspected suicide bomb attack on a train carrying Pakistani security personnel and their families in the southwestern province of Balochistan, officials confirmed Sunday. The explosion, which occurred near a railway track in the provincial capital Quetta, derailed the engine and three coaches, with two more overturning, according to Pakistan's railways ministry.
Attack Details
The shuttle train was transporting passengers from Quetta's cantonment area to connect with the Jaffar Express long-distance train when the blast struck. A security official reported that an explosives-laden vehicle hit one of the train's bogies in a residential area, resulting in casualties among residents of a nearby apartment building. Images from the scene show burnt-out vehicles, damaged residential buildings, and twisted metal scattered near the tracks, with smoke rising from the wreckage.
Rescue operations are underway, and security forces have cordoned off the area. The separatist militant group Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility in a statement to media, describing it as a suicide bombing. The claim has not yet been independently verified.
Government Response
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the attack as a "heinous bomb explosion" in a social media post, expressing condolences to the victims' families and vowing the nation's solidarity with the people of Balochistan. The attack is the latest in a series of major strikes on trains, security forces, and infrastructure in the mineral-rich province, which borders Iran and Afghanistan.
In March 2025, BLA militants hijacked the Jaffar Express, taking hundreds hostage before a military operation ended the standoff, leaving 21 hostages, four troops, and all 33 attackers dead. Earlier this year, Pakistani forces killed 145 militants in a 40-hour operation after coordinated attacks across Balochistan left nearly 50 people dead.
This is a breaking news story. Further updates will follow as more information becomes available.
