QUETTA: At least 26 people were killed and over 50 others injured some of them critically, when a suicide bomber belonging to banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) detonated himself among passengers getting ready to board a train at the Railway Station of the southwestern city of Quetta, officials said on Saturday. Police and Rescue teams reached the site of the blast soon after getting information of the explosion.
The injured were shifted to the Quetta Civil Hospital where an emergency was declared to deal with the growing number of wounded patients. According to sources, many injured were in a critical condition.
According to Edhi sources, people including women and children were gathered at a platform as Jaffar Express was about to depart the Quetta Railway Station when the BLA suicide bomber struck.
At least 24 killed, 45 injured in Quetta train station bomb blast, police say
There was chaos at the platform as a heavy contingent of police and FC rushed to the railway station and cordoned it off.
Jaffar Express was scheduled to travel from Quetta to Peshawar. The suicide explosion happened as passengers waited on a platform at around 8:45 am in Quetta. As many as 24 passengers died on the spot while two later succumbed to their injuries in the hospitals.
The Quetta Commissioner Hamza Shafqat, while speaking to reporters, confirmed that it was a suicide bomb blast. Hamza said security forces were the target of the suicide bombing. He appealed to the public to donate blood for the injured who were under treatment in the hospitals.
A Railways DSP said they were analyzing the CCTV footage at the police station and also from the areas around the railway station.
The outlawed Balochistan Liberation Army group, the most prominent of militant groups in Balochistan, claimed responsibility for the attack, the deadliest since a string of coordinated attacks on August 25-26 in which more than 50 people, civilians and security officials, were killed. The surge in deadly attacks indicates the BLA, which has targeted security forces for years in small-scale attacks and is allied with the Pakistani Taliban (TTP), could be much more organized.
“The attack was carried out on a Pakistan Army unit at Quetta Railway Station… after completing a course at the Infantry School,” the BLA said in a statement.
Firefighters, rescuers, and passengers were working through abandoned luggage on the platform, guarded by heavily armed members of the security forces.
Quetta Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Operations Mohammad Baloch told newsmen that the incident “seems to be a suicide blast”. He further said that “around 100 people” were present at the site.
Balochistan government spokesman Shahid Rind said that initially the blast looks like a suicide bombing. He said that all the injured persons were shifted to Combined Military Hospital (CMH) and Civil Hospital where six injured persons were in serious condition.
Shahid Rind, in a statement, said an ‘emergency’ has been imposed in hospitals and the “injured were being provided with medical aid”.
Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti strongly condemned the bomb blast at Quetta Railway Station on Saturday morning.
CM Mir Sarfaraz Bugti immediately contacted local administration and directed to submit complete report of the bomb blast. He said that these terrorists now started targeting innocent people, women and children to spread harassment among common people but they will never succeed in their nefarious designs.
He said that terrorists who targeted innocent people will not be spared and they are worst then animal, an exemplary punishment will be awarded to terrorists who committed this heinous crime.
The Chief Minister said that lot of terrorists already arrested who killed innocent people and operation against these people will continue till the entire elimination of terrorism from our society.
Meanwhile, acting President Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif have strongly condemned the blast at Quetta Railway Station.
The acting President and Prime Minister prayed for the eternal peace of the departed souls and for the bereaved families to bear the losses with fortitude.
The acting President expressed his deep grief over loss of precious lives, President Secretariat Press Wing said in a press release. He said that terrorists were the enemies of humanity who targeted innocent people and reiterated the resolve of taking all possible measures to efface terrorism.
The Prime Minister reiterated that terrorists inflicting harm on the lives and properties of innocent people would have to pay the heavy price, PM Office Media Wing said in a press release. The government and security forces were fully active to eliminate terrorism, he added.
The Prime Minister sought an inquiry report from Balochistan government over the incident.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has strongly condemned the blast that occurred near Quetta Railway Station on Saturday, expressing deep sorrow over the tragic loss of lives.
In a statement, Naqvi extended heartfelt condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in the attack and offered prayers for the swift recovery of the injured. Naqvi emphasized that the terrorists responsible for targeting innocent people are undeserving of any leniency, reiterating the government’s commitment to bringing them to justice.
People’s Party’s Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari condemning the terrorism incident in Quetta said that those targeting innocent citizens could not be given any concession. “We are backing all steps to get rid of the terrorists and their facilitators.”
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