A suicide bomber blew himself up at a railway station in restive southwestern Pakistan on Saturday, killing at least 24 people, including soldiers and railway staff, and wounding about 50 others, some of them critically, officials said.
The attack occurred as nearly 100 passengers were waiting for a train to the garrison city of Rawalpindi from Quetta, the capital of restive Balochistan province, said Hamza Shafqaat, a senior government administrator.
Police said about a dozen soldiers and six railway workers were among the dead.
A separatist group, the Balochistan Liberation Army, claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement, saying the suicide bomber targeted soldiers present at the railway station. The outlawed BLA has long waged an insurgency seeking independence from Islamabad.
TV footage showed the steel structure of the platform roof being blown off and a tea stall destroyed as luggage was strewn about.
Ayesha Faiz, a Quetta police officer, said some of the seriously injured passengers died in hospital, adding to the death toll.
Shahid Rind, a government spokesman, said all the wounded were taken to hospitals for treatment.
