BLA Separatist Militant Claims Responsibility For Suicide Bombing At Pakistan's Quetta Station

ILLUSTRATION OF UNSPLASH/Nijc Sokli

JAKARTA - The suicide bombing at a train station in southwest Pakistan killed 24 people. The separatist militant group claimed responsibility for the terror attack.

It was reported that 53 other people were injured in an attack in the city of Quetta, said Hamza Shafqaat.

The explosion at the train station was a suicide bombing, he said.

The Bloch Liberation Army (BLA), a separatist militant group active in the region, claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement.

The explosion occurred at the city's main train station platform at around 09.00, Senior Police Inspector Muhammad Bloch said.

"The explosion occurred when there were many passengers on the platform," he said.

Security forces have closed the area and an investigation is underway. Meanwhile, the Chief Minister of the province of Sarfraz Bugti ordered an investigation into the bomb attack.

In a statement, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif strongly condemned the suicide bombing at Quetta station.

The uprising in Blochistan has been going on for decades but has escalated in recent years since the inner sea port in the province of Gwadar leased to China, which is the culmination of Beijing's Belt and Road infrastructure efforts in Pakistan.

BLA is responsible for the deadliest attack in Pakistan this year, the latest in October when they targeted a convoy of Chinese engineers and investors in the city of Karachi that left two Chinese nationals dead.