Blast targeting train kills at least 20 in Pakistan

At least 20 people have been killed and 70 others injured in an explosion targeting a train transporting military personnel in Pakistan.

The blast occurred while the train was travelling through Chaman Phatak station in Quetta, the capital of the western Balochistan region, on Sunday morning.

Railway officials told BBC Urdu that three coaches and the engine were derailed while two were overturned. The shuttle service had primarily been transporting service personnel and their families who had been returning home for Eid.

The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) separatist group claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was a suicide bombing. Pakistani officials have not yet confirmed this.

Images from the scene show burnt-out and mangled carriages and nearby cars, as well as bomb damage to a nearby building.

"The train was moving and there were passengers on board when the explosion occurred," Naseer Ahmed, a local resident, told the BBC.

He said that, as it had been a Sunday morning, his family had been asleep when the blast occurred, shattering all his windows.

A police officer and civil administration official in Balochistan confirmed to BBC Urdu that 20 people had been killed, with fears the death toll could rise.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif strongly condemned the attack, saying "such cowardly acts of terrorism cannot weaken the resolve of the people of Pakistan".

"The entire nation stands in solidarity with the people of Balochistan in this hour of grief," he added.

An emergency has been declared in hospitals treating victims.

Those aboard the train had been on their way to Quetta's main railway station from a nearby military encampment, officials said. From there, they were due to travel to Peshawar and then onto their home towns for the holiday.

It is not the first time the BLA has targeted trains in Balochistan. In the past two years, the Jaffar Express has come under attack from the armed group multiple times.

The BLA accuses Pakistan's federal government of exploiting the rich mineral resources of its largest province without the local population benefiting.

Balochistan covers nearly 44% of the country's land, sharing volatile borders with Iran and Afghanistan and covering part of the Arabian Sea coastline. It is home to about 5% of the country's more than 240 million people.

Violence between BLA fighters and Pakistani security forces erupted in Quetta and across the region in early February, leading to the deaths of 31 civilians.