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.
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Paramilitary soldiers and volunteers transport an injured victim at the site of bomb explosion, in Quetta, Pakistan, Sunday, May 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Arshad Butt)
A volunteer, top, helps an injured victim after recovering from an overturned train coach on a railway track at the site of bomb explosion, in Quetta, Pakistan, Sunday, May 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Arshad Butt)
Children look at an injured person passing through an alley near the site of a bomb explosion in Quetta, Pakistan, Sunday, May 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Arshad Butt)
Paramilitary soldiers and volunteers recover victims from an overturned train coach on a railway track at the site of bomb explosion, in Quetta, Pakistan, Sunday, May 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Arshad Butt)
Paramilitary soldiers and volunteers transport an injured victim at the site of bomb explosion, in Quetta, Pakistan, Sunday, May 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Arshad Butt)
Volunteers look for victims from an overturned train coach on a railway track as survivors wait for transport at the site of bomb explosion, in Quetta, Pakistan, Sunday, May 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Arshad Butt)
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.
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.
Paramilitary soldiers and volunteers transport an injured victim at the site of bomb explosion, in Quetta, Pakistan, Sunday, May 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Arshad Butt)
A volunteer, top, helps an injured victim after recovering from an overturned train coach on a railway track at the site of bomb explosion, in Quetta, Pakistan, Sunday, May 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Arshad Butt)
Children look at an injured person passing through an alley near the site of a bomb explosion in Quetta, Pakistan, Sunday, May 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Arshad Butt)
Paramilitary soldiers and volunteers recover victims from an overturned train coach on a railway track at the site of bomb explosion, in Quetta, Pakistan, Sunday, May 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Arshad Butt)
Paramilitary soldiers and volunteers transport an injured victim at the site of bomb explosion, in Quetta, Pakistan, Sunday, May 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Arshad Butt)
Volunteers look for victims from an overturned train coach on a railway track as survivors wait for transport at the site of bomb explosion, in Quetta, Pakistan, Sunday, May 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Arshad Butt)
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday Russia used the powerful hypersonic Oreshnik ballistic missile during a mass drone and missile attack on Kyiv on Sunday which killed at least two people, marking the third time the weapon has been used in the four-year war.
The intense aerial assault damaged buildings across the Ukrainian capital, including near government offices, residential buildings and schools.
The Oreshnik, which is capable of carrying nuclear or conventional warheads, struck the city of Bila Tserkva in the Kyiv region, Zelenskyy said in a post on Telegram. The target was not immediately clear.
Russia first used the multiple-warhead Oreshnik on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro in November 2024. It was used a second time in January in the western Lviv region.
The combined attack included 600 strike drones and 90 air, sea and ground-launched missiles, according to Ukraine's Air Force. Ukrainian air defenses destroyed and jammed 549 drones and 55 missiles. Around 19 missiles failed to reach targets, the Air Force said.
Earlier, Zelenskyy warned that Russia was planning to use the Oreshnik, citing intelligence from the U.S. and Western partners.
President Vladimir Putin said the Oreshnik, which means “hazelnut tree” in Russian, streaks at 10 times the speed of sound, or Mach 10, and is capable of destroying underground bunkers “three, four or more floors down.”
The weapon travels “like a meteorite” and is immune to any missile defense system, Putin said, adding that several such missiles, even fitted with conventional warheads, could be as devastating as a nuclear strike.
Air raid sirens blared through the night as smoke billowed across the city from strikes. Associated Press reporters heard powerful explosions near the city center and close to government buildings.
The attack was ongoing at sunrise Sunday, with more missiles and drones expected to reach Kyiv.
Damage was recorded in 40 locations across several districts of the capital, including residential buildings, Kyiv military administration head Tymur Tkachenko said in a Telegram post.
“It was a terrible night, and there had never been anything like it in the entire war," said Kyiv resident Svitlana Onofryichuk, 55, who has worked in the market that was damaged for 22 years.
“I am very sorry that I have to say goodbye to Kyiv now, I am not staying there anymore, there is no possibility," she added. “My job is gone, everything is gone, everything has burned down.”
Yevhen Zosin, 74, a Kyiv resident who witnessed the attack, said the moment he heard the explosion he rushed to grab his dog.
“Then there was another explosion and she and I were thrown back like a pin by the shock wave. We both survived, she and I. My apartment was blown to pieces,” he said.
In Kyiv’s Shevchenko district, a five-story residential building was hit, which caused a fire, and one person was killed, Ukraine's state emergency service reported.
A school building was damaged by an attack while people sheltered inside, Mayor Vitalii Klitschko said. Local authorities reported supermarkets and warehouses across the city also were damaged.
Multiple communities recorded damage throughout the Kyiv region, according to Mykola Kalashnyk, the regional governor.
Rescue workers put out a fire of residential building destroyed after a Russian strike in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Sunday, May 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
An injured woman is helped by A Red Cross volunteer inside a shelter after a Russian strike on residential neighbourhood in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Sunday, May 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
A man carries a box from a burning trade center after a Russian strike on Kyiv, Ukraine, on Sunday, May 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
Red Cross volunteers carry an injured woman into an ambulance after a Russian strike on a residential neighborhood in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Sunday, May 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
Iryna and Ihor react as they look at their house destroyed after a Russian strike on Kyiv, Ukraine, on Sunday, May 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, a prayer house of a local Protestant community of Evangelical Christian Baptists burns following a Russian air attack in Balakliia, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, Saturday, May 23, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters put out the fire at a prayer house of a local Protestant community of Evangelical Christian Baptists following Russian air attack in Balakliia, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, Saturday, May 23, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, a prayer house of a local Protestant community of Evangelical Christian Baptists burns following a Russian air attack in Balakliia, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, Saturday, May 23, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters put out the fire at a prayer house of a local Protestant community of Evangelical Christian Baptists following Russian air attack in Balakliia, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, Saturday, May 23, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
