The ‌explosion killed at least 24 people and injured around 70, according to three provincial government and security officials.

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 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.

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.