Powerful blast in Pakistan’s volatile province kills 20 and injures 30

Islamabad, Nov 9 (dpa/GNA) – At least 20 people have been killed in southwestern Pakistan after a massive explosion ripped through a busy train station in what appears to be a suicide attack amid a wave of violence, officials said. on Saturday.

More than 30 people were injured in the bombing in Quetta, the capital of the most unstable province of Balochistan. The number of deaths is expected to rise, with many in critical condition.

Hundreds of passengers were waiting on the platform when the explosion occurred in the morning.

Images on social media showed the damaged platform, whose roof was torn apart by the powerful explosion.

“Initial findings suggest it was a suicide attack,” Azam Baloch, a local police official, told dpa.

However, he said police were gathering evidence and beginning to investigate the incident.

A state of emergency has been declared in the city’s hospitals, Balochistan government spokesperson Shahid Rind said.

The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), a militant group of ethnic Baloch guerrillas fighting for independence from Pakistan, claimed responsibility for the attack.

Last month, the banned group killed two Chinese engineers in Karachi and 20 miners in a separate attack.

Much of the violence is seen against Chinese projects in Pakistan, to connect China’s Xinjiang region with the Arabian Sea, to reach markets in the Middle East, Europe, Africa and beyond.

Baloch militant and political groups accused China of stealing their land and resources, including several hundred kilometers of coastline.

GNA