At least 11 killed in suicide bombing at political rally in Pakistan’s Balochistan

A suicide bombing at a political rally in Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province killed at least 11 people and injured more than 40 others on Tuesday evening, according to an AFP report citing two local officials.

The blast took place in the parking lot of a stadium in Quetta, the provincial capital, where hundreds of supporters of the Balochistan National Party (BNP) had gathered for a rally.

Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest and most resource-rich province, remains the country’s poorest, consistently ranking at the bottom of human development indicators.

The Balochistan National Party (BNP), which was holding the rally targeted in Tuesday’s bombing, campaigns for greater rights and economic investment for the ethnic Baloch population.

Since 2014, China has poured billions into infrastructure projects in the province under its Belt and Road Initiative.

However, many Baloch residents claim the benefits have largely bypassed local communities and enriched outsiders.

The province has been the epicenter of a long-running separatist insurgency. In 2024 alone, Balochistan witnessed a sharp spike in violence, with at least 782 people killed amid escalating clashes between militants and Pakistani security forces.

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 neighboring 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,” AFP quoted a government official as saying.

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

With inputs from agencies