Quetta (Pakistan), Nov 10 (UNI) At least 26 people were killed and 62 injured after a suicide blast ripped through a Quetta Railway Station on Saturday, an official said on Sunday.
Pakistan, particularly the Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, has seen a sharp uptick in terrorism-related incidents over the past year.
The death toll rose to 26 after two people succumbed to their injuries while 62 others were injured in the explosion, Dawn News quoted provincial health department spokesperson Wasim Baig.
Quetta Division Commissioner Hamza Shafqaat said that the blast was a “suicide attack” primarily on law enforcement agencies, while civilians were also targeted, Dawn News reported.
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.
Earlier, Quetta Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Operations Mohammad Baloch told media that “around 100 people” were present at the site, according to footage seen by him.
He added that at the time of the blast, a Jaffar Express train was reportedly ready to depart from the platform for Peshawar.
Police and security forces had reached the site of the incident, according to a statement by Balochistan government spokesperson Shahid Rind.
An emergency was imposed in hospitals there, the government official stated, adding that the “injured were being provided with medical aid.”
The banned militant group Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) has claimed responsibility for the blast, Dawn News reported.
According to media reports, Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti condemned the incident, saying it was a “continuation of targeting innocent people.”
In a statement, CM Bugti said, “The terrorists’ target now are innocent people, labourers, children, and women. Those targeting innocent people do not deserve mercy.”
According to the statement, the chief minister has ordered an investigation into the blast and contacted top officials in Balochistan.
CM Bugti further said, “Terrorists are not eligible to be called humans. They have fallen from humanity; they are worse than animals.”
Balochistan Health Minister Bakht Muhammad Kakar was present at the Quetta Trauma Centre to oversee the treatment of the injured, a statement by his office said.
He said the Bomb Disposal Squad was collecting evidence from the site and a report had been sought on the incident, the report added.
Pakistan Railways had previously announced the restoration of train services between Quetta and Peshawar from October 11, after a suspension of more than a month and a half, according to media reports.
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.
UNI ARN