QUETTA: At least 20 people were killed while 25 others were injured when a powerful explosion targeted a passenger train in southwestern Pakistan on Sunday morning, a senior official said, with separatist militant group Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claiming responsibility for the attack.
The blast took place at a railway track in the Chaman Pathak area in Quetta district in southwestern Balochistan province, an incident report prepared by the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) stated.
The report said several coaches of the train caught fire following the blast, adding that emergency response teams were dispatched to the site. Rescue teams are actively engaged in controlling the fire, providing medical assistance and supporting rescue operations.
“At least 20 people have been killed while 25 others have been injured in the blast,” a senior government official told Arab News on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to the media.
The official said the train was targeted in the attack and was heading toward the Quetta Railway Station.
Shahid Rind, adviser to the chief minister on political and media affairs, said 14 people were killed in the blast.
“The martyred include three Frontier Corps personnel,” Rind said in a statement released by his office.
He said militants targeted unarmed civilians, adding that the casualties included women and children.
“Evidence is being collected and investigations are underway,” Rind said.
Qadir Qumbrani, superintendent of police in the provincial capital of Quetta, told Arab News that the wounded were shifted to Civil Hospital Quetta for medical treatment. He said the train was on its way from Quetta Garrison toward the Quetta Railway Station when it was attacked.
“There are possibilities of more casualties as the injured are being shifted to the hospital from the blast site,” Qumbrani said.
Several buildings and vehicles in the vicinity were destroyed due to the intensity of the blast, while two carriages of the train were derailed.
BLA, the most prominent separatist militant outfit based in southwestern Pakistan, took responsibility for the blast in a statement.
BLA said its Majid Brigade unit had carried out a “highly organized” suicide attack targeting the train, which it said was carrying army personnel from the Quetta Cantonment.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the blast in a message on X, expressing grief at the loss of lives.
“Such cowardly acts of terrorism cannot weaken the resolve of the people of Pakistan,” Sharif wrote. “We remain steadfast in our determination to eliminate terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.”
The BLA has carried out attacks against Pakistani law enforcers and passenger trains in the past.
In August 2025, its militants stormed the Jaffar Express train in Balochistan and held hostage hundreds of passengers. The military rescued them after an hours-long operation that left 33 militants, 23 soldiers, three railway staff and five passengers dead.
Separatist militants accuse the federal government of denying the Baloch population a share in the resources of the mineral-rich province. Balochistan has been the site of a low-level insurgency for years.
Pakistan’s government and army deny the allegations and have claimed that the BLA, among other militant groups, is supported by India and provided sanctuaries in Afghanistan. New Delhi and Kabul reject these allegations.
