At least 30 people were killed and 70 others injured on Sunday when an explosion targeted a shuttle train carrying military personnel and their families near Chaman Phatak in Balochistan’s capital, Quetta, officials said.
The shuttle service was travelling from Quetta’s cantonment area to connect with the Jaffar Express long-distance train when the blast occurred, Pakistan’s railways ministry said in a statement.
The explosion derailed the engine and three coaches, while two coaches overturned, the ministry said, adding that security forces had cordoned off the area and rescue operations were under way.
The train had primarily been transporting service personnel and their families who were returning home for Eid.
Images and videos from the scene showed overturned coaches, burnt-out vehicles, damaged residential buildings, twisted metal and debris scattered near the railway track, with smoke rising from the wreckage.
One video showed about 10 vehicles, mostly small cars, charred as fire and black smoke emerged from some of them. Multiple ambulances could be seen arriving at the site in another video.
The Baloch Liberation Army claimed responsibility for the attack, saying its “fidayee” unit, the Majeed Brigade, had targeted a train transporting military personnel from Quetta Cantonment.
In a statement, BLA spokesperson Jeeyand Baloch said the group accepted responsibility for what it called a “highly organized fidayee attack” on a train carrying Pakistani military personnel.
“This morning, the Majeed Brigade, the fidayee unit of the Baloch Liberation Army, targeted a train transporting personnel of the occupying forces from Quetta Cantt,” the statement said.
“Detailed information regarding the operation, along with the specific material and human casualties inflicted upon the enemy as a result of the attack, will be released shortly in an official statement to the media,” the BLA statement added.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif strongly condemned the “heinous bomb explosion”.
“Such cowardly acts of terrorism cannot weaken the resolve of the people of Pakistan. We remain steadfast in our determination to eliminate terrorism in all its forms and manifestations,” he wrote on X.
Sunday’s blast marks the third major deadly attack claimed by the BLA against trains or railway facilities it says were carrying or used by Pakistani military personnel.
On 9 November 2024, the group claimed responsibility for a suicide attack at Quetta Railway Station, saying its Majeed Brigade had targeted military personnel who had completed training at the Infantry School in Quetta.
In March 2025, BLA fighters stormed the Jaffar Express in Bolan, taking hundreds of passengers hostage. The group later claimed that more than 200 Pakistani military personnel were killed during the operation after Pakistan refused a proposed prisoner exchange.