Islamabad, 9 November 2024 (dpa/MIA) – The death toll from a suicide bombing at a crowded railway station in south-western Pakistan has risen to 26, officials said on Saturday.

The bombing in Quetta, the capital city of the country’s most volatile province of Balochistan, left more than 60 people wounded. The number of dead is expected to increase with many in critical condition.

Hundreds of passengers were waiting at the platform when the explosion took place in the morning. Images on social media showed the damaged platform, with its roof torn apart by the powerful blast.

"The death toll from the powerful blast has risen to 26," said Wasim Baig, a spokesperson for Balochistan’s health department.

"It was a suicide attack targeted at law enforcement agencies," Hamza Shafqat, a senior government official from Quetta, told media.

He said that train operation from the blast-hit railway station was suspended for the time being. 

An emergency has been imposed in the city's hospitals where the injured are being treated. Shafqat also appealed on citizens to donate blood for the wounded. 

The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), a group of ethnic Baloch guerilla militants that is fighting for independence from Pakistan, claimed responsibility for the attack.

The rebel group issued a statement on social media saying that the target of suicide bombing was soldiers of the Pakistan military who were on their way back from a training course.

Local media reported at least 14 soldiers were killed and over 40 were wounded in the bombing.

Last month, the outlawed group targeted and 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 kilometres of shoreline.

Photo: Screenshot Al Jazeera