ISLAMABAD — At least 26 people were killed and 62 injured after a suicide blast ripped through a Quetta Railway Station on Saturday, local authorities and hospital officials said.
The incident comes a week after a bomb blast near a girl’s school and a hospital in Balochistan’s Mastung district killed eight people, including five children.
Pakistan, particularly the Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, has seen a sharp uptick in terrorism-related incidents over the past year.
While speaking to Dawn.com, provincial health department spokesperson Wasim Baig said that the death toll rose to 26 after two people succumbed to their injuries while 62 others were injured in the explosion.
Quetta Division Commissioner Hamza Shafqaat said that the blast was a “suicide attack” primarily on law enforcement agencies, while civilians were also targeted.
Shafqaat added that gatherings have been banned in the area while bus stations were on high alert, adding that railways have been requested to close the station and suspend train services.
Speaking to Geo News, he said that besides civilians, “some law enforcement” personnel were also martyred.
According to Reuters, Balochistan Inspector General of Police (IG) Moazzam Jah Ansari said, “The target was army personnel from the Infantry School.”
While Baig did not confirm details about personnel to Dawn.com, AFP quoted him as saying: “Fourteen members of the army and 12 civilians were killed.”
Baig, according to AFP, said 46 members of the security forces and 14 civilians were wounded.
According to a list of injured people shifted to Quetta Trauma Centre and Emergency Department — issued by Managing Director Dr Arbab Kamran Kasi and available with Dawn.com — 53 people aged between 20 and 50 years were wounded.
Six of them were stated to be in a serious condition whereas three had been shifted to an intensive care unit.
The banned militant group Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) has claimed responsibility for the blast.
Pakistan Railways had previously announced the restoration of train services between Quetta and Peshawar from Oct 11, after a suspension of more than a month and a half.
Train services had been suspended across the country on August 26 after a key railway bridge between Kolpur and Mach was destroyed in a blast carried out by BLA as part of province-wide coordinated attacks. — (DAWN)