Death toll rises to 20 in a powerful bombing at a Quetta rail station in southwestern Pakistan

QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — The death toll from a powerful bombing at a Quetta rail station in restive southwestern Pakistan on Saturday rose to at least 20, officials said. The attack also left more than 40 others wounded, some critically.

The bomb exploded when nearly 100 passengers were waiting for a train to travel to the garrison city of Rawalpindi from Quetta, the capital of the restive Balochistan province, said Mohammad Baloch, a senior police officer.

A separatist group, the Balochistan Liberation Army, claimed the attack in a statement, saying a suicide bomber targeted troops present at the railway station. The outlawed BLA has long waged an insurgency seeking independence from Islamabad.

Shahid Rind, a government spokesperson said the bombing seemed to have been a suicide attack, but an investigation was still ongoing to confirm the BLA’s claim

TV footage showed the steel structure of the platform’s roof blown apart and a tea stall destroyed as luggage littered the place.

Ayesha Faiz, a Quetta police official, said some of the critically wounded passengers died at a hospital, raising the deaths.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif denounced the bombing in a statement, saying those who orchestrated the attack “will pay a very heavy price for it,” adding that security forces were determined to eliminate “the menace of terrorism.”

The oil- and mineral-rich Balochistan is Pakistan’s largest but also least populated province. It is also a hub for the country’s ethnic Baloch minority whose members say they face discrimination and exploitation by the central government. Along with separatist groups, Islamic militants also operate in the province.

BLA often targets security forces and foreigners, especially Chinese nationals who are in Pakistan as part of Beijing’s multibillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative, which is building major infrastructure projects.

Last month, BLA claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing that targeted a convoy with Chinese nationals outside the Karachi airport, killing two. Since then, Beijing has asked Pakistan to ensure the safety of its citizens working on multiple projects in Balochistan and other parts of the country.

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Associated Press writer Asim Tanveer contributed to this story from Multan, Pakistan,