Suicide bomber attacks political rally in Pakistan's Balochistan, killing 14

Three separate incidents in Pakistan claim a total of 25 lives

Medical personnel push a stretcher carrying a victim injured in the Quetta suicide bombing into an ambulance. AFP

Fourteen people have died after a suicide bomber attacked a political rally in Pakistan's southwestern province of Balochistan, where government troops have been battling an insurgency for more than a decade.

The attack was among three in Pakistan on Tuesday that claimed a total of 25 lives, officials said.

Dozens of people were wounded in the Balochistan explosion, which took place in the car park of a stadium in the provincial capital, Quetta, where hundreds of members of the Balochistan National Party (BNP) had gathered, two provincial officials told news agency AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

At least seven of the wounded were in critical condition, the officials said.

Another attack in Balochistan, near the border with Iran, claimed five more lives on Tuesday, while six soldiers were killed in a suicide attack on their base in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Balochistan is Pakistan's largest and most resource-rich province, but also its poorest, and regularly ranks among the lowest on human development indicator scorecards.

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

Security personnel inspect a damaged vehicle at the site of the explosion in Quetta. AFP

The party's chief, Akhtar Mengal, had just finished speaking at the Quetta rally and was leaving the venue when the attack occurred. He said he was “safe” in a post on social media.

Since 2014, China has invested significantly in building a road-and-infrastructure project in Balochistan linked to its Belt and 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 last year the region saw a sharp rise in violence, with 782 people killed.

Elsewhere in Balochistan on Tuesday, five paramilitary personnel were killed and four wounded when a home-made bomb exploded as their convoy passed through a district near the Iranian border, a senior local official told AFP.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for either attack.

The blast took place in the car park of a stadium in the provincial capital Quetta. AFP

Since January 1, 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 neighbouring 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.

The militant group Ittehad-ul-Mujahideen Pakistan claimed responsibility for that attack.