### Suicide Bombing at Quetta Railway Station Claims at Least 26 Lives

In the early hours of Saturday morning, a devastating suicide bombing at Quetta Railway Station in Pakistan's Balochistan province left at least 26 people dead and numerous others injured. Ikhtiar Hussain, a senior ticket inspector for Pakistan Railways, had just arrived at the station at around 8:25am local time when the attack occurred. Seconds after stepping on platform No. 1, he heard a powerful explosion and fell to the ground, shrapnel piercing his right cheek and causing his face to bleed.

Among the victims were both civilians and security personnel waiting for the Peshawar-bound Jaffar Express. The suicide bomber struck amidst the morning hustle and bustle, transforming the scene into a nightmarish bloodbath. Describing the aftermath, 47-year-old Hussain recounted from his hospital bed, "It was a view of Judgement Day, because in seconds people smiling at the station fell down on the ground in a bloodbath."

Pakistani officials have confirmed the attack was a suicide bombing. Despite tight security measures at the entry and exit gates, including baggage checks by police, the perpetrator managed to infiltrate the station. Hafiz Allah Ditta, a 32-year-old local mason, witnessed the explosion while seeing off a friend now in critical care. "Policemen were standing at the ticket booth and searching the pieces of baggage of passengers, but the government should enhance security measures at the railway station," he said.

Responsibility for the attack has been claimed by the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), an outlawed secessionist group. In response, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and other senior political figures have condemned the atrocity and vowed to bring the culprits to justice.

The explosion adds to the escalating violence in Balochistan, a province that borders Iran and Afghanistan and has been a hotspot for armed conflict involving groups like ISIL (ISIS), Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, and various Baloch secessionist factions. Just last week, nine people were killed in an IED explosion in Mastung, about 52km from Quetta, targeting a police vehicle safeguarding polio vaccination teams.

Civil authorities are now scrambling to understand how the attacker breached security. Commissioner Hamza Shafqat indicated that CCTV footage suggested the bomber had disguised himself as a passenger. On-site at the railway station, 41-year-old Muhammad Amir Rafique, another railway employee, described the harrowing moments following the explosion: "We ran toward the site, the injured were screaming for help and dead bodies lying down on the floor," he recounted, detailing how he aided police and rescue workers in evacuating the injured.

As investigations continue, the residents of Quetta and the broader region remain on edge, grappling with the grief and horror wrought by this latest act of violence.