QUETTA: A bomb planted by suspected militants derailed a passenger train in a remote area of southwestern Pakistan on Friday, injuring at least 15 people on board, officials said.
The train passed through the district of Bolan in Balochistan province when the bomb went off, according to a district administrator, Samiullah Agha. He said rescuers transported the injured to a nearby hospital and engineers were repairing damaged railway tracks.
The explosion was so powerful that it derailed eight train cars, Agha said.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but separatist and militant groups are active in the area. For more than a decade, Balochistan has been the scene of a low-level insurgency by Baloch separatists seeking autonomy from the Islamabad government or outright independence
Pakistani militants are also present in the province, which borders both Afghanistan and Iran.
The train passed through the district of Bolan in Balochistan province when the bomb went off, according to a district administrator, Samiullah Agha. He said rescuers transported the injured to a nearby hospital and engineers were repairing damaged railway tracks.
The explosion was so powerful that it derailed eight train cars, Agha said.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but separatist and militant groups are active in the area. For more than a decade, Balochistan has been the scene of a low-level insurgency by Baloch separatists seeking autonomy from the Islamabad government or outright independence
Pakistani militants are also present in the province, which borders both Afghanistan and Iran.
