A possible suicide attack in the southwest of the country has killed at least 24 people dead and left more than 40 injured in critical condition, according to the inspector general of police for Balochistan, Mouzzam Jah Ansari.
The blast appears to have been carried out by a suicide bomber, according to Senior Superintendent of Police Muhammad Baloch. Investigations are underway to get more information, he said. So far, however, no group has claimed responsibility for the blast at Quetta’s main railway station, which is usually crowded in the early morning hours.
Pakistan is facing increasing attacks by separatist ethnic militants in the south and Islamist militants in the northwest. At least 73 people were killed in Balochistan province in August after separatist militants attacked police stations, railway tracks and highways.
The August attacks were the largest in years by militants who have waged a decades-long insurgency to secure secession from this resource-rich southwestern province, home to major Chinese projects such as a port and a gold and copper mine.
