At least 26 killed in Pakistan railway station explosion

Separatist group Balochistan Liberation Army claimed responsibility soon after attack

The site of a bomb blast at a railway station in Quetta, Pakistan. AP

An explosion at a railway station in Pakistan's Balochistan province on Saturday killed at least 26 people, including 14 soldiers, and injured dozens more, police and officials said.

"Fourteen members of the army and 12 civilians were killed," said Wasim Baig, spokesman for Quetta's Sandeman Provincial Hospital, raising an earlier toll provided by police. At least 46 others were injured in the explosion at the Quetta railway station.

The explosion occurred as passengers were waiting on a platform in the capital of the province, which borders Afghanistan and Iran.

Balochistan, Pakistan's largest and poorest province, is home to separatist militants. The country has been grappling with an increase in attacks by these groups as well as Islamist militants in the north-west.

The Baloch Liberation Army, one of the region's main separatist groups, claimed responsibility shortly after the blast.

The attack "was carried out on a Pakistani army unit at Quetta railway station after completing a course at the Infantry School", the BLA said. The group frequently claims deadly attacks against security forces or Pakistanis from other provinces.

Senior superintendent of police operations Muhammad Baloch said the attack seemed to be a suicide bombing and investigations were under way.

"The blast took place inside the railway station when the Peshawar-bound express was about to leave for its destination," Mr Baloch said.

More than 70 people, including separatist militants and soldiers, were killed in August when insurgents attacked police stations, railway lines and vehicles on motorways in Balochistan. The assaults were the most widespread in years by the militants fighting a decades-long insurgency for secession.