A massive suicide car bomb attack blew up and derailed a train transporting security personnel in Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan.
The blast ripped through the train passenger cars, killing at least 30 people and leaving more than 100 others wounded, with the casualty count expected to rise as rescuers dig through the twisted metal.
The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), a separatist group operating in the mineral-rich region, immediately claimed responsibility for Sunday's coordinated strike.
Local officials and police told international outlets that at least three coaches and the engine had derailed after the explosion. Security forces have cordoned off the whole area amid ongoing search and rescue efforts.
The completely overturned and were immediately engulfed in massive flames. Authorities have condemned the heinous act of terrorism.
Soon after the attack, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif took to X to condemn the carnage: "Such cowardly acts of terrorism cannot weaken the resolve of the people of Pakistan," Sharif stated.
"We remain steadfast in our determination to eliminate terrorism in all its forms and manifestations," he added.
While Islamabad promises total elimination of the threat, the reality on the ground has long been of an insurgency capable of hitting high-value military logistics lines at will.
One source said that the "The blast occurred near a railway track as a train carrying Pakistani security personnel and civilians was travelling near Quetta’s cantonment area, according to officials and media reports." And so it seems the terror group knew that large numbers of military and security personnel would be coming through.
Over a year ago, there was a major hijacking of a train carrying 346 passengers in the same region, in March 2025. That attack resulted in the deaths of at least 21 passengers and at least four Pakistani soldiers involved in the security response.
Death toll expected to climb:
As we've featured before, the Baloch Conflict owes its origins to Balochistan’s contentious incorporation into Pakistan but has evolved in recent years to take on shades of "resource nationalism". What’s meant by this is that some locals believe that their resource-rich region, the largest in Pakistan at nearly half the country’s size, isn’t receiving its fair share of wealth.
The BLA and its supporters also accuse Pakistan of selling the region out to China. Pakistan denies these claims and has always blamed Afghanistan and India for the conflict.