EXPLOSION ROCKS QUETTA RAILWAY STATION IN PAKISTAN, KILLING 26 PEOPLE

Sat 09 November 2024:

At least 26 people were killed and many others injured in a bomb explosion at Quetta city railway station in southwestern Pakistan early Saturday, police said.

So far 26 people have been killed and 46 others injured, Muhammad Akram, a local police official, told Anadolu over phone.

Earlier, a local senior police official, Muhammad Baloch, said that it seems to be a suicide bombing.

He added that the explosion hit a ticket counter at the station in the Balochistan provincial capital of Quetta.

The attack happened when nearly 100 passengers were waiting for a train to travel to the garrison city of Rawalpindi from Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province, according to Hamza Shafqaat, a senior government administrator.

Given the usual high foot traffic at the station, authorities fear the number of casualties could rise.

TV footage showed the steel structure of the platform’s roof blown apart and a destroyed tea stall. Luggage was strewn everywhere.

Bomb blast at Pakistan train station kills at least 24

Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan in Pakistan, has recently been the site of a tragic suicide bombing at a railway station, resulting in at least 24 deaths and over 40 injuries.

The Balochistan Liberation Army,… pic.twitter.com/zLrRs2T7W6

— INDEPENDENT PRESS (@IpIndependent) November 9, 2024

Police said about a dozen soldiers and six railway employees were among the dead at the station, where a walk-through gate has been installed to check whether anyone is carrying explosives but there are multiple other entrances into the station without such security.

Police and rescue teams quickly arrived at the scene as emergency measures were implemented at Quetta’s Civil Hospital, with additional doctors and support staff to assist victims.

When asked about security, Hamza Shafqaat, a senior government administrator told reporters that “it is usually very difficult to stop such suicide attacks.”

Shahhid Nawaz, who is the in-charge of security at Quetta’s train station, insisted that there was no breach of security, as the attacker was disguised as a passenger and he blew himself up among people.

A separatist group, the Balochistan Liberation Army, claimed the attack in a statement, saying a suicide bomber targeted troops present at the railway station. The outlawed BLA has long waged an insurgency seeking independence from Islamabad.

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A senior superintendent of police operations, Muhammad Baloch, said separatists frequently attacked soft targets.

“When their people are arrested, they also attack in retaliation. We all have to fight this war. We are resilient. Our teams are here and trying to save as many lives as we can.”

Police said some of the critically wounded passengers had died in the hospital, raising the death toll.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif denounced the bombing in a statement, saying those who orchestrated the attack “will pay a very heavy price for it,” adding that security forces were determined to eliminate “the menace of terrorism.”

Pakistan has endured 785 terrorist attacks during the first 10 months of 2024, resulting in 951 deaths and 966 injuries, reflecting a persistently high level of violence across the country, according to a report by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies, an Islamabad-based think tank.

Though terror attacks and bombings have dropped in Pakistan, October emerged as the second-deadliest month of the year as fatalities rose to 198.

Fatalities included 98 terrorists, 62 security personnel and 38 civilians.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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