At least 25 people were killed after a bomb exploded at a train station in Pakistan’s Balochistan province, authorities said.
Dozens more were injured in the explosion as a popular morning train was about to leave Quetta station in southwestern Pakistan for Peshawar.
A militant group, the Balochistan Liberation Army, said it carried out the bombing in what police considered a suicide attack.
There has been a recent increase in deadly attacks in the province, driven by demands for independence and control of local resources.
The city commissioner said at least 25 people were killed, including the suicide bomber, and about 50 others were injured in the blast.
Senior police official Muhammad Baloch said the blast was believed to have been caused by a suicide bomber carrying 6-8kg of explosives. He told the BBC that among the dead and injured were both civilians and military.
Videos shared on social media appeared to show the moment the explosion occurred on Saturday morning, with dozens of people visible at the station platform.
There was also footage of the aftermath, showing several people injured and debris scattered throughout the station.
Abdul Jabbar was among the injured taken to the Civil Hospital. He said he was entering the station, buying a ticket from the booking office, when the explosion occurred.
“I cannot describe the horror I faced today, it was like judgment day had come,” he said.
Muhammad Sohail arrived soon after the blast to catch a train to Multan.
“Everything at the station was destroyed and people were lying on the ground screaming for help,” he said.
A separatist militant group, the Baloch Liberation Army, claimed responsibility for the attack.
In a statement posted on social media, the group said it targeted a Pakistani army unit returning from Quetta after completing training.
Police later confirmed that 14 soldiers were among the dead.
The Balochistan Chief Minister called the act reprehensible and the perpetrators “worse than animals”. He said authorities would pursue them and “bring them to their logical destination”.
Pakistan National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq condemned the blast, saying those responsible were “enemies of humanity”.
Balochistan is Pakistan’s largest province and the richest in natural resources but the least developed.
The region shares a volatile border with Iran and Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, and also boasts an extensive coastline along the Arabian Sea.
