At least 11 killed in suicide bombing at Pakistan political rally

At least 11 people were killed in a suicide bombing at a political rally in Quetta. Photo / Getty Images

At least 11 people were killed on Tuesday evening when a suicide bomber blew himself up at a political rally in the Pakistan province of Balochistan.

Two officials in the troubled southwestern province told AFP at least 40 people were wounded in the explosion in the carpark of a stadium in the provincial capital, Quetta, where hundreds of members of the Balochistan National Party (BNP) had gathered.

Balochistan is Pakistan’s largest and most resource-rich province, but is also its poorest, and regularly ranks among the lowest on human development indicator scorecards.

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 linked to its One Belt One Road initiative.

Many Baloch, however, say the benefits have been reaped only by outsiders.

Pakistani forces have been battling an insurgency in the province for more than a decade, and in 2024 the region saw a sharp rise in violence, with 782 people killed.

In March, the separatist Baloch Liberation Army seized a train in the province, taking hundreds of passengers hostage and killing off-duty security forces in a three-day siege.

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 the neighbouring province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

On Tuesday, six soldiers were killed in an attack on a paramilitary headquarters in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa city of Bannu, the military said.

“A suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into the gate of the FC camp, after which five more suicide attackers entered,” a government official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The ensuing exchange of fire lasted 12 hours, ending after the six attackers were killed, the official said.

- Agence France-Presse