Suicide bombing at Pakistani political rally leaves 11 dead, dozens injured

At least 11 people were killed and around 40 others injured on Tuesday evening when a suicide bomber detonated explosives at a political rally in Balochistan, officials confirmed.

The attack took place in the parking area of a stadium in Quetta, the provincial capital, as hundreds of supporters of the Balochistan National Party (BNP) had gathered for the event.

Authorities, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said emergency teams quickly moved the wounded to nearby hospitals.

Balochistan, despite being Pakistan’s largest and most resource-rich province, remains one of the country’s poorest regions and consistently lags on human development indices.

The BNP campaigns on a platform calling for greater rights and economic investment in the well-being 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.