Eight killed in several attacks in southwest Pakistan

An explosion struck a busy marketplace in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta on Thursday, killing two people and injuring 17 others, officials said.

According to a spokesperson for the Balochistan health department, the blast occurred outside the Double Road market in the provincial capital, near a police vehicle. The injured were taken to nearby hospitals for treatment.

One of the deceased was identified as Jabbar, while another remains unidentified. The injured included 14-year-old Ahmed Khan, 19-year-old Jameel, 36-year-old Abdul Razzaq, and several others, according to the health department’s official list.

Balochistan health department spokesperson Dr Waseem Baig confirmed the casualties, adding that medical teams were providing urgent care to the injured.

Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi condemned the blast, expressing sorrow over the loss of lives.

Deteriorating security in Balochistan

The security situation in Balochistan has worsened in recent months, with separatist militants frequently targeting police and military personnel.

On March 11, a Pakistani train was hijacked in a rare and alarming escalation of violence. The Jaffar Express, carrying 380 passengers, including 214 security personnel, departed Quetta at 9 a.m. but was derailed by an IED between Paneer and Mushkaaf stations at noon. Armed militants surrounded the train and initially released 86 local passengers before security forces intervened.

The following morning, some trapped passengers attempted to escape but were shot by the attackers. Others reached Paneer station safely. Pakistan Railways dispatched a rescue train due to the area's inaccessibility. By March 12, law enforcement agencies launched an operation, rescuing 190 passengers unharmed.

Officials reported that 33 terrorists were killed, while five security personnel were martyred. A total of 354 passengers survived, while 26, including a railway police officer and an employee, lost their lives. Fifty passengers sustained injuries.

Pakistan’s authorities have vowed to crack down on the growing insurgencies, blaming the violence partly on militants finding refuge in Afghanistan—a charge denied by the ruling Afghan Taliban.

Attacks in Balochistan and northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) tend to increase during spring, as militants take advantage of milder weather in mountainous border regions.

Last year, Pakistan’s Interior Ministry reported a sharp rise in terrorist attacks since the Afghan Taliban took power in August 2021. It specifically noted a surge in Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan’s activities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the Baloch nationalist insurgency in Balochistan, and ethno-nationalist violence in Sindh.

Six killed in Gwadar bus attack

Earlier, five passengers and a security official were killed in the Kalmat area of Balochistan’s Gwadar district.

"Terrorists have targeted passenger buses and security officials in multiple districts of Balochistan, killing at least five non-local passengers and a security official," a senior provincial police official told AFP early Thursday, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The incident took place in the coastal town of Pasni in Gwadar district -- home to massive Chinese infrastructures projects attracting workers from all of Pakistan's provinces.

"Dozens of militants" have "stopped passenger buses and identified non-local travellers", the official added.

They carried out the overnight attacks in several districts after taking control of major highways and setting up posts to search vehicles, the official said.