Quetta: It was Saturday– a busy day at Quetta Railway station. Passengers who were eager to meet their relatives assembled at the ill-fated place to board trains. Some were busy collecting the memories they had cherished with their loved ones in Quetta. Some families were on the way for a holiday trip. Suddenly, all dreams shattered. The platform turned red. There was a deadly bomb blast.
According to the initial reports, a suicide bomber blew himself up, resulting in the deaths of at least 27 people including security officials.
While some were left with no limbs and some were with no dreams. The victims who survived the deadly blast recalled how a suicide blast triggered a stampede situation at the crowded railway station.
“I had just walked past the explosion site when a loud blast hit me from behind, about 10 steps away. I was injured in the explosion, which happened just five or six seconds later,” Ikhtyar Hussain, a traveller who survived the Quetta attack said from a hospital where he is getting treatment along with dozens of others.
“From above, I saw people stampeding, the British-era roof blown off, and people dying before my eyes. Then I lost consciousness. Luckily, my friends came to my rescue, picking me up and bringing me to the trauma centre,” he added.
VIDEO: Victim recalls horrific situation after blast at Quetta railway station
“I was travelling from Quetta to Jafarabad with my family when the explosion occurred. We immediately abandoned our belongings and focused on getting to safety. The scene was chaotic – blood covered the platform. Thankfully, ambulances arrived quickly, and we were rushed to the hospital,” said another traveller, Nasir Ahmed.
Quetta is the capital of Balochistan province, which is grappling with a surge in strikes by separatist ethnic militants that has raised security concerns for projects aiming to develop the province’s untapped mineral resources.
BLA claims responsibility for attack
The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), a separatist militant group, claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement emailed to new agency Reuters. The BLA seeks independence for Balochistan, a province of about 15 million people that borders Afghanistan to the north and Iran to the west. It is worth noting that the BLA is the biggest of several ethnic insurgent groups battling the government, saying it unfairly exploits the province’s rich gas and mineral resources. The terror group has also been targeting Chinese nationals working in the province and in Karachi.
Last month a suicide bombing near the Karachi airport killed two Chinese engineers.
Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti condemned the attack, terming it as “a horrific act targeting innocent civilians”, and ordered an immediate investigation. He said that terrorists are increasingly aiming civilians, labourers, women, and children, and vowed that those responsible would be pursued relentlessly.
Balochistan become centre of terror attacks
Pakistan, particularly the Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, has seen a sharp uptick in terrorism-related incidents over the past year.
According to the Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), the third quarter of the ongoing year witnessed a 90 per cent surge in violence in Pakistan, the Geo News reported. With a total of 722 people being killed, including civilians, security personnel, and outlaws, while 615 others were wounded in as many as 328 incidents recorded during the period under review, 97% of these fatalities occurred in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces.
Over 92% of these incidents of terror attacks and security forces’ operations were recorded in the same provinces. The total fatalities from three quarters of this year have now surpassed the total fatalities recorded for the entire 2023; the number of fatalities rose to at least 1534 in the first three quarters compared to 1523 in 2023, the report said.
(With inputs from agencies)
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