Blast derails Pakistan train carrying soldiers home for Eid

The explosion ripped through a passenger train near Quetta as it carried army personnel and their families from Quetta to Peshawar for Eid, killing at least 24 people and wounding more than 50. Authorities said an explosive-laden vehicle struck a carriage as the train passed a signal point, blowing out windows, derailing part of the train and damaging nearby vehicles. What should have been a holiday movement turned into a mass-casualty attack on one of the few rail links crossing Pakistan’s west.

The target carried more than soldiers. It carried families heading home for the holiday, a detail that widened the shock far beyond the military ranks on board. By striking a moving train, the attackers hit a civilian transport artery as well as a security target, showing that rail travel itself can become a battlefield when militants want to create fear, delay movement and project reach across Pakistan’s interior.

The Baloch Liberation Army claimed responsibility. The separatist group seeks Balochistan’s secession from Pakistan and has repeatedly attacked security forces, along with civilians, including Chinese nationals working on infrastructure projects. The attack landed in Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest and least populated province, a restive, mineral-rich region bordering Iran and Afghanistan that has long faced insurgency. In that setting, rail lines are more than transport routes. They are symbols of the state’s ability to move people, goods and authority through territory where control remains contested.

Train attacks in the province have a grim history. A 2016 bombing near Much killed at least three people and wounded 13, while a 2014 train bombing killed at least 13. In March 2025, the BLA hijacked the Jaffar Express carrying 440 passengers. Pakistan said 21 hostages were killed before security forces killed all 33 assailants and rescued 346 passengers. The military later said militants had blown up the tracks while the train was partly inside a tunnel in the Bolan Pass near Sibi. China then publicly backed Pakistan’s counterterrorism efforts, underscoring how the violence in Balochistan continues to carry both domestic and geopolitical weight.