At least 24 killed in Pakistan train blast claimed by separatist militants

ISLAMABAD, May 24: A bomb blast hit a shuttle train carrying Pakistani security personnel and their families in the southwestern province of Balochistan on Sunday, officials said, in the latest major attack claimed by separatist militants.

The explosion killed at least 24 people and injured around 70, according to three provincial government and security officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity as they are not authorized to speak to the media.

The attack was the latest in a series of strikes on trains, security forces and infrastructure in the mineral-rich province that borders Iran and Afghanistan, where Pakistan has launched counterinsurgency operations after some of the deadliest violence in years.

The separatist militant group Baloch Liberation Army, or BLA, said in a statement to media that it carried out the attack and described it as a suicide bombing. Reuters could not independently verify the claim.

The shuttle train was carrying passengers from Quetta's cantonment area to connect with the Jaffar Express long-distance train when the blast struck near a railway track in the provincial capital, Pakistan's railways ministry said in a statement.    �"REUTERS