Blast hits train in Balochistan; at least six hurt

Security and rail officials said Friday that six people were injured when a bomb exploded along a railway track in southwest Pakistan.

The train traveled from Quetta, the capital of Balochistan, to the eastern metropolis of Lahore when one of the vehicles was damaged by the explosion of the main railway track.

Aammir Baloch, a railway official, added that one of the train trucks was damaged by the explosion and part of the track was blown up, and Quetta's train service was suspended.

Security officials say six people were injured in the explosion.

Taliban, Sunni Islamic militants and sectarian groups linked to al-Qaida and Islamic state groups also operate in strategically important regions, bordering Iran and Afghanistan.

Baluchistan is at the heart of infrastructure projects that are part of China's "Belt and Road" initiative, which has resulted in a $ 57 billion investment in Pakistan.

Violence in the southwestern region is concerned about security of transport and energy links from western China to Gwadar, the southern deep-sea port of Pakistan.

Balochistan's separatists, who had long fought the country to occupy more resources in gas and mineral-rich regions, also criticized the central government for discrimination.

Separately, two workers of a prominent political party died on Friday traveling to a party meeting due to a mine explosion in the Harnai area near Quetta.

A local official in Abdul Salam Acha-Kai told Reuters that "the victim was a brother and belonged to the Awa American National Party."

"The explosion was planted on the road," he added.