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A blast targeting a train carrying military personnel killed at least 24 people on Sunday in Pakistan's turbulent southwestern province of Balochistan, a senior official said.Army servicemen were among the victims of the attack in the provincial capital Quetta, which wounded more than 50 people, the official told AFP.Images showed a mangled train carriage on its side as people clambered over the wreckage to find survivors.People could be seen carrying blood-soaked victims on stretchers away from a derailed car, while armed security forces stood guard. The official told AFP that the train carrying army personnel and their family members was going from Quetta to Peshawar in Pakistan's northwest.The train was passing a signal at Chaman Pattak in Quetta "when an explosive-laden car hit one of the carriages that resulted in a big blast", the official said. Windows were blown out and nearby vehicles were destroyed in the explosion. Another official told AFP that the army personnel were travelling to celebrate the Eid holiday, which is due to start on Tuesday.- 'Running for shelter' -Balochistan is Pakistan's poorest province and largest by landmass. It lags behind the rest of the country in almost every index, including education, employment and economic development.Baloch separatists accuse Pakistan's government of exploiting the province's natural gas and abundant mineral resources without benefiting the local population.Mohammad Rahim, who was near the site of the attack, told AFP he was sleeping when the explosion ripped through the area."My family and I jumped out of our beds when we heard a loud bang," he said. "I heard screaming and the crying of women and children in the building, including my family."Another witness, Abdul Basit, told AFP he was standing in a queue to buy breakfast when he heard the blast. "People started running for shelter," he said.Mujib Ahmad said that his car was damaged in the explosion. "When I heard the blast, I thought that it must be an attack," he said."I came out of the building and saw the devastation and my car was completely damaged."A police official told AFP the weight of the improvised explosive device used in the attack was around 35 kilograms (77 pounds).They said that police and security agencies were investigating the attack.

HE Minister of State at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Dr. Mohammed bin Abdulaziz bin Saleh Al Khulaifi received Sunday a phone call from Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Caretaker Government of Afghanistan Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi. During the call, the latest developments in the region were reviewed, particularly the treacherous Israeli attack that targeted Doha. The Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs in the caretaker government expressed his country's solidarity with the State of Qatar. He also conveyed Afghanistan's appreciation to the State of Qatar for operating an air bridge to help alleviate the suffering of those affected by the recent earthquake in the eastern part of the country, and for its continued support for the Afghan people.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility Wednesday for a suicide bombing that authorities said killed 15 people and wounded dozens more at a political rally in southwestern Pakistan.The claim for Tuesday's attack in Quetta, capital of restive Balochistan province, was made through the group's propaganda arm.Balochistan interior minister Hamza Shafqat gave an updated death toll of 15.Dozens were also wounded in the attack by a suicide bomber with eight kilograms (17.5 pounds) of explosives in a stadium parking lot in Quetta, where hundreds of members of the Balochistan National Party (BNP) had gathered, Shafqat said.Balochistan, a province on the border with Iran and Afghanistan, is regularly the scene of violence, often carried out by militants from the regional branch of the Islamic State, or Baloch separatists.Balochistan is Pakistan's largest and most resource-rich province, but also its poorest, with roughly 70% of the population living below the poverty line.Pakistani forces have been battling an insurgency in the province for more than a decade. In 2024 the region saw a sharp rise in violence, with 782 people killed, according to the Center for Research and Security Studies in Islamabad.While Islamic State militants consider political parties and state institutions to be heretical, they rarely attack Baloch activists.But on Tuesday evening in the Quetta stadium parking lot as BNP rally participants were dispersing, a suicide bomber detonated explosives.IS published a photo of the alleged attacker, his face hidden by a scarf.BNP leader Akhtar Mengal, who at the time of the attack was leaving the rally after delivering a speech, posted on X that he was "safe, but deeply heartbroken at the loss of our workers." The BNP campaigns on a platform calling for greater rights and economic investment in the wellbeing of members of the Baloch ethnicity.Since 2014, China has invested significantly in building a road-and-infrastructure project in Balochistan linked to its One Belt One Road initiative.Many Baloch, however, say the benefits have been reaped only by outsiders.Since January 1, according to AFP figures, more than 430 people, mostly members of the security forces, have been killed in violence carried out by armed groups fighting the state in Balochistan and neighboring Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.Elsewhere in Balochistan on Tuesday, five paramilitary personnel were killed and four wounded when a homemade bomb exploded as their convoy passed through a district near the Iranian border, a senior local official told AFP.In March, Baloch Liberation Army separatists carried out a spectacular hostage-taking of some 350 people on a train there. Authorities said at least 31 people were killed.