Terrorism in Balochistan does not make headlines as it happens every other day. But on Tuesday night, the blast targeted a political gathering and killed 13 people outside Shahwani Stadium in Quetta’s Sariab area.
The attack came moments after the Balochistan National Party (BNP-Mengal) concluded a gathering marking the death anniversary of veteran nationalist leader Sardar Attaullah Mengal. BNP chief and MNA Sardar Akhtar Mengal, who presided over the event, narrowly escaped the explosion.
Other senior leaders, including Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) chairman Mehmood Khan Achakzai, Awami National Party’s Asghar Khan Achakzai, and former senator Mir Kabeer Muhammad Shai of the National Party, were also present and survived unharmed.
Terrorism has no face and no allegiance; its only aim is chaos. Police confirmed it was a suicide bombing, with the attacker detonating his explosives-laden vest in the stadium’s parking area as participants were dispersing.
Six vehicles, including bulletproof cars, were damaged in the powerful blast. Several BNP members, including former MPA Mir Ahmed Nawaz Baloch and the party’s central labour secretary Musa Jan, were among the wounded. Authorities warned that the death toll could rise, as many of the injured remain in critical condition. The victims were identified by local officials, while the Balochistan Home Department announced a high-level investigation and said evidence had been collected from the site.
In a separate incident, five security personnel were martyred and three others injured when an improvised explosive device struck a Frontier Corps convoy in Kech district’s Buleda area, near the Pakistan-Iran border.
The blast, triggered remotely, destroyed one of the vehicles, marking yet another attack on security forces in the troubled province. These twin attacks, occurring hours apart, show the growing security challenges in Balochistan, where political gatherings and security convoys remain vulnerable to terrorism.
The bombing outside the BNP rally is being seen as an attack not just on lives but on the politics of Balochistan itself, attempting to silence voices through fear. *