QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — A suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle near a railway track as a passenger train passed through the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta on Sunday, killing at least 19 people and wounding over 70 others, officials said.

The force of the explosion caused two of the train cars to overturn and catch fire, sending thick black smoke into the air, according to footage shared online.

The attack happened in an area where security forces are usually stationed, badly damaging several nearby buildings and smashing more than a dozen vehicles parked along the road, according to witnesses and images circulating on social media.

Doctors at local hospitals said they had received the wounded, with 20 in critical condition. Three security officials told The Associated Press the bodies were transported to hospitals following the attack. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to be able to speak to the media.

The outlawed Baloch Liberation Army, or BLA, which demands independence from Pakistan’s central government, has claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement sent to reporters. The militant group said it targeted a train carrying security personnel.

Quetta is the capital of insurgency-hit Balochistan province. The oil- and mineral-rich region has long been the scene of a low-level insurgency. The insurgents have frequently targeted security forces, government installations and civilians in the province and elsewhere in the country.

“We strongly condemn the targeting of innocent civilians and are deeply saddened by the loss of precious human lives. Terrorist elements deserve no leniency,” said Shahid Rind, Balochistan provincial government spokesman.

He said following the explosion, a medical emergency was declared at hospitals in Quetta, and an investigation has been launched.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif strongly condemned the attack, calling it a “cowardly act of terrorism” in a post on X and offering condolences to the families of the victims.

Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti strongly condemned the attack in Quetta, saying the militants targeted “innocent civilians, including women and children,” vowing to “hunt (them down)” in a post on X.

Bugti and the federal government in Islamabad often use the phrase “Fitna al-Hindustan” to refer to the BLA, which they allege is backed by India. New Delhi denies the allegation.

Pakistan and India have long had strained relations and have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir, which is claimed by both in its entirety.

Although Pakistani authorities say they have quelled the insurgency, violence in Baluchistan has persisted.

At least 26 people, including soldiers, were killed in 2024 when a suicide bomber attacked a train station in Balochistan.

The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv issued a security alert Saturday warning that a “potentially significant air attack” could hit the city in the next 24 hours.

The U.S. Mission Ukraine said in a statement, “The U.S. embassy in Kyiv has received information concerning a potentially significant air attack that may occur at any time over the next 24 hours.

“The embassy, as always, recommends U.S. citizens be prepared to immediately shelter in the event an air alert is announced.”

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The embassy urged Americans to “identify shelter locations before any air alert,” keep reserves of food, water and medication nearby, follow the “directions of Ukrainian officials and first responders in the event of an emergency,” to immediately take shelter if an alert is announced and to download an air raid app like Air Raid Siren or Alarm App. 

By early Sunday morning, the capital was rocked by a massive missile and drone strike, Reuters reported. 

At least three people were injured and some residential buildings were damaged, the mayor said on Telegram. 

The message follows a warning from Ukrainian President Volodmyr Zelenskyy that Russia was preparing to strike Ukraine with a hypersonic Oreshnik missile, citing Ukrainian as well as U.S. and European intelligence. 

“We are seeing signs of preparation for a combined strike on Ukrainian territory, including Kyiv, involving various types of weaponry,” Zelenskyy wrote in an X post Saturday morning. 

“The specified intermediate-range weapons could be used in such a strike. It is important to act responsibly on air-raid alerts, starting this evening. Russian madness truly knows no bounds, so please protect your lives. Use shelters.”

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He added that the use of such weapons would set a precedent for future aggressors. 

“If Russia is allowed to destroy lives on such a scale, then no agreement will restrain other similar hatred-based regimes from aggression and strikes,” he said. “We count on a response from the world and on a response that is not post factum, but preventive. Pressure must be put on Moscow so that it does not expand the war.”

Zelenskyy said Ukraine was preparing its air defenses as much as possible, and “we will respond fully justly to every Russian strike.”

“We have given permission for a parade,” he concluded his post, referring to the President Donald Trump-brokered three-day ceasefire earlier this month, “but Russia has no permission for madness. This war must be ended – we need peace, not some missiles satisfying the sick ambitions of one individual. I thank everyone helping to protect lives. Once again, please take care of yourselves and use shelters tonight.”

At the start of the three-day ceasefire May 9, Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters he thought the war could come “to an end” soon. 

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On Friday, however, Putin vowed retaliation for a deadly Ukrainian drone strike in Starobilsk, an occupied town in eastern Luhansk, claiming that the Ukrainians hit a college dormitory in a “terrorist” act. 

Ukraine denied the claim, saying it struck a Russian drone command unit in the area.