FRANCE PERSPECTIVE

Paris, May 24, 2026. A rare suicide bombing struck the capital of Pakistan's Balochistan province Sunday morning. A suicide bomber detonated a car loaded with explosives against a passenger train as it crossed a railroad signal at Chaman Pattak in the city of Quetta. The death toll reported to French media is severe: at least 24 dead and over 70 wounded, including 20 in critical condition, according to information reported by France 24 and Le Monde.

The convoy was no ordinary passenger train. According to a senior official interviewed by the AFP and cited by Le Monde, the train connected Quetta to Peshawar and carried military personnel as well as family members. Soldiers were therefore among the victims. The blast was so powerful that two train cars derailed and caught fire, sending a thick column of black smoke into the sky. Images shared on social media show one rail car completely torn open and lying on its side, while rescue workers and residents searched through the wreckage for survivors. Bloodied victims were carried on stretchers away from the wreckage under the watch of armed security forces.

The explosion also destroyed around ten vehicles parked near the railway tracks and severely damaged several nearby buildings, according to eyewitness accounts and photos circulating online. The fact that the bombing occurred in a sector normally secured by law enforcement raises questions about the capacity to protect infrastructure in this zone.

The attack was claimed by the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), an armed separatist group active in the province for decades. In a statement provided to the press, the BLA assumed responsibility for the attack. For French newspapers, this claim fits into a familiar context: Balochistan is regularly described as an unstable province, site of a simmering conflict between Pakistani authorities and multiple separatist movements demanding independence or greater autonomy over the region's natural resources.

The Balochistan provincial government condemned what it called a cowardly terrorist act. In Islamabad and in Western capitals, the question of Pakistan's stability—a nuclear power facing multiple internal threats—remains a subject of permanent concern. This bombing occurs in a country where attacks against security forces and their families have intensified in recent years, particularly in Balochistan and tribal border areas with Afghanistan.