Authorities say at least 24 people have been killed after a bomb exploded at a train station in Pakistan’s Balochistan province.

Dozens more were injured in the blast, which occurred as a popular morning train was about to leave Quetta railway station in southwestern Pakistan for Peshawar.

A militant group, the Balochistan Liberation Army, said it carried out the bombing in what police believe was a suicide attack.

There has been a recent increase in deadly attacks in the province, driven by demands for independence and control over local resources.

The city commissioner said 24 people were killed and about 50 injured in the blast.

Senior police official Muhammad Baloch said the blast was allegedly caused by a suicide bomber carrying 6-8 kg of explosives. The dead and wounded included both civilians and soldiers, he told the BBC.

Videos shared on social media appear to show the moment the explosion occurred on Saturday morning, with dozens of people visible on the platform.

Footage of the aftermath is also circulating, showing a number of people injured and debris strewn around the station.

Among the wounded brought to the Civil Hospital was Abdul Jabbar. He said he was entering the station, having purchased a ticket from the booking office, when the explosion occurred.

“I can’t describe the horror I faced today, it was like judgment day,” he said.

Muhammad Sohail arrived soon after the blast happened and caught the train to Multan.

“Everything was destroyed at the station and people were lying on the ground screaming for help,” he said.

A separatist militant group, the Baloch Liberation Army, claimed responsibility for the attack.

In a statement released on social media, the group said it targeted a Pakistani military unit returning from Quetta after completing a training course.

The Chief Minister of Balochistan called the act deplorable and the perpetrators “worse than animals”. He said the authorities would track them down and “bring them to their logical conclusion.”

Pakistan’s National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq condemned the blast, saying those responsible were “enemies of humanity”.

Balochistan is Pakistan’s largest province and the richest in terms of natural resources, but it is the least developed.

The region shares a volatile border with Iran and Taliban-controlled Afghanistan and also boasts a vast coastline along the Arabian Sea.

Local groups in Pakistan and Iran have been part of a decades-long struggle for greater autonomy in Balochistan.

The Pakistani province has long faced extensive exploitation of its resources, and this has been a major catalyst for insurgency and unrest.

Locals have accused governments of exploiting and profiting from resources while neglecting the development of the region itself.