At least 14 people have been killed and 20 others wounded after a vehicle-borne suicide bomber struck a shuttle train near Chaman Phatak in Quetta on Sunday morning, Balochistan government has confirmed.

The provincial government, in a statement issued hours after the blast, said that the train shuttle service was targeted in what it called a “cowardly act of terrorism” that was “not only an attack on innocent human lives but also a heinous attempt to undermine peace, stability, and normal civic life in Balochistan”.

Among those martyred were three Frontier Corps personnel, while the rest were civilians, pedestrians, passengers, bystanders and residents of houses near the blast site. An entire family of four, including a father, mother, son and daughter, also lost their lives in the attack.

State-run APP (Associated Press of Pakistan), citing railway authorities, noted that the shuttle train was travelling from Quetta Cantonment to the railway station when it was hit shortly after 8am.

The explosion derailed three coaches including the locomotive and overturned two others. A fire that broke out in nearby vehicles was brought under control after efforts by multiple fire brigade units.

Emergency was declared in all hospitals across Quetta, with doctors and paramedical staff called in. A central control room was set up at the office of the deputy commissioner to coordinate relief operations, while a monitoring cell was activated at the Home Department.

Mohammad Rahim, who lived near the blast site, told a foreign news agency that he was asleep when the explosion hit. “My family and I jumped out of our beds when we heard a loud bang,” he said, adding, “I heard screaming and the crying of women and children in the building, including my family”.

Abdul Basit, another witness, told an international media outlet he was standing in a queue to buy breakfast when the blast went off.

“People started running for shelter,” he said. Mujib Ahmad, whose car was damaged, told an international media outlet: “When I heard the blast, I thought that it must be an attack”.

Pakistan Railways dispatched rescue trucks and a relief train to the site. The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD), bomb disposal squad and police also reached the area to collect evidence.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi travelled to Quetta and jointly chaired a meeting with Chief Minister (CM) Sarfraz Bugti, where the Balochistan police chief presented an initial report. The federal government, according to a statement, “stands with the Balochistan government in this hour of grief”.

Bugti, in a post on X, vowed to pursue those behind the attack. “Let the enemy hear this: there will be no safe haven left for terrorists in Balochistan. We will hunt down the terrorists, their facilitators, and their masterminds one by one and bring them to justice, and this war will continue until the last terrorist is eliminated,” he wrote.

President Asif Ali Zardari, condemning the blast, said that elements hostile to Pakistan were attempting to undermine the country’s initiatives for global peace. He vowed that Pakistan would defeat terrorists, their facilitators, financiers and those providing them safe havens, adding that “every drop of blood of those killed would be accounted for”.

PM Shehbaz also condemned the attack, writing on X: “Such cowardly acts of terrorism cannot weaken the resolve of the people of Pakistan. We remain steadfast in our determination to eliminate terrorism in all its forms and manifestations”.

Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar called it a “savage act of terrorism targeting innocent civilians” and paid tribute to first responders, police and rescue personnel for their efforts. “Such heinous acts cannot and will not weaken Pakistan’s resolve to eradicate terrorism in all its forms and manifestations,” he said.

Railways Minister Hanif Abbasi condemned the attack and directed authorities to submit an immediate report. He asserted that “anti-Pakistan elements operating from India and Afghanistan were sponsoring terrorism to destabilise the country,” adding that Pakistan Railways’ operations would continue without interruption.