By Aamir Latif
KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) – Authorities suspended railway services in southwest Pakistan on Monday following a deadly explosion at Quetta railway station that killed 26 people and injured dozens of others on Saturday.
All the trains from and to southwestern Balochistan province will remain suspended for next four days, a statement from Pakistan Railways said.
The provincial government also announced a three-day mourning in solidarity with the victims of Saturday’s deadly bombing.
A suspected suicide bomber, according to security forces, blew himself up in the midst of over 100 passengers, including military personnel, who were waiting for a train at the railway station in provincial capital Quetta.
According to police, 14 military personnel were among the deceased, while several others were injured.
Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), an outlawed militant group, claimed responsibility for the attack. The group has long been targeting security forces and residents of other provinces in Balochistan.
Pakistan's largest Balochistan province, which borders neighboring Iran and Afghanistan, is strategically important due to its rich copper, zinc, and natural gas reserves.
The province is also a key route of the $64 billion mega project Pakistan-China Economic Corridor (PCEC), which aims to connect China's strategically important northwestern Xinxiang province to Balochistan’s Gwadar port through a network of roads, railways, and pipelines for cargo, oil, and gas transportation.
However, Baloch separatists, mainly BLA, who have allegedly been involved in kidnapping and murdering Chinese workers in the recent past, oppose the project.