Photo courtesy of Anadolu
At least 23 people were killed and another 70 injured in a suspected suicide bombing targeting a train in southwestern Pakistan on Sunday, police sources told Anadolu.
According to the sources, a suspected suicide bomber believed to have acted alone rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a train carrying military personnel in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan.
The blast occurred along a railway track as the train was heading toward the city’s cantonment area.
Officials said the explosion was powerful enough to be heard several miles away.
The victims included civilians, with multiple houses near the railway line and several vehicles sustaining extensive damage in the blast.
The banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility in a statement to local media, saying a suicide bomber had targeted military personnel.
Heavy gunfire was also reported following the explosion, while authorities declared an emergency at several hospitals in Quetta.
Earlier, Babar Yousafzai, special assistant for the provincial home department, said security forces and rescue teams had reached the scene as police worked to determine the nature of the explosion.
Balochistan, a mineral-rich region and a major route for the multibillion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, has long faced militant violence linked to separatist groups. (Anadolu)