At least 17 killed in Pakistan railway station blast

9 Nov, Pakistan : An explosion Saturday at a railway station in Pakistan’s Balochistan province killed at least 17 people and wounded dozens more, police and medics said.

“The death toll has reached 17. It might possibly go higher,” Inspector General Moazzam Jah Ansari told AFP. Another 46 wounded in the blast at the Quetta railway station have been transported to a local hospital, according to its spokesperson.

The explosion happened as passengers waited on a platform at around 8:45 am (0345 GMT) in the capital of Balochistan province, which borders Afghanistan and Iran.
Pakistan’s largest and poorest province, resource-rich Balochistan is home to separatist militants.

Militants have in the past targeted energy projects with foreign financing — most notably from China — accusing outsiders of exploiting the region while excluding residents from the profits.

One of the militant groups — the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) — frequently claims deadly attacks against security forces or Pakistanis from other provinces, notably Punjabis.

In August, the BLA claimed responsibility for coordinated attacks by dozens of assailants who killed at least 39 people, one of the highest tolls to hit the region.