An explosion claimed by separatists from the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) on Saturday killed 26 people and injured dozens at the main train station in a province in southwest Pakistan, according to police and medical officials. .
Baloch separatists killed at least 26 people this Saturday, November 9, including 14 soldiers, on a platform at the main station in Balochistan, a bustling province in the southwest of Pakistan, a new hospital report showed.
“14 army personnel and 12 civilians were killed,” said Dr. Wasim Baig, spokesperson for the Sandeman Regional Hospital in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan. In addition, 46 soldiers and police officers, in addition to 14 civilians, were killed, he said.
In a statement, the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) claimed that one of its brigades targeted “a unit of the Pakistan Army which was returning to Punjab via the railway station, after training at the infantry school “.
FREQUENT ATTACKS IN THE REGION
Despite the frequency of attacks and armed attacks in Balochistan, the toll is particularly high. Often, it is law enforcement and Pakistanis from other regions who are targeted.
The Punjabis, who constitute the largest of Pakistan's six main ethnic groups, are seen as the dominant ones in the ranks of the army, engaged in the battle against the separatists.
At the end of August, this faction claimed responsibility for coordinated attacks by dozens of attackers that left at least 39 dead, one of the worst tolls in this region.
A method of operation still unknown
“At first, it seemed to us that an explosive had been planted, hidden in abandoned luggage, but now we think it was a suicide attack,” said Mohammed Baloch.
The explosion took place around 8:45 a.m. at the central station in Quetta, capital of Balochistan, where passengers were waiting on a platform. On the paved platform, the huge sheet metal shelter supposed to protect travelers from the sun or rain was blown away.
Firefighters, rescuers and passengers are busy moving the bundles abandoned by travelers under the guard of members of the security forces, automatic rifles in hand. On the spot, pools of blood and ripped backpacks. Scattered, tattered clothes bear witness to the violence of the explosion.
