The United States strongly condemned the November 9 bombing at a railway station in Pakistan’s Quetta.
Addressing the US State Department briefing on Thursday, Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel offered his deepest condolences to the victims and their families. “We strongly condemn the BLA Majeed Brigade’s November 9th bombing at a railway station, and we extend our deepest condolences to the victims and their families. We have a shared interest in combating these kinds of threats with Pakistan. We have a shared commitment to regional security,” Patel said.
“The US itself has designated the BLA as a Specially designated global terrorist organization. We did that in 2019 and at the end of the day. We continue to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Pakistan in its fight against terrorism and violent extremism,” he added.
A devastating blast at Quetta Railway Station in Pakistan’s Balochistan province on November 9 claimed at least 26 lives and injured 62 others. The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) has claimed responsibility for the blast. During the briefing, in response to a question of Taliban leaders congratulating the American people for not handing leadership of their great country to a woman, Patel affirmed, “I can’t imagine the Taliban are experts when it comes to leadership under a woman or not. But the Taliban are hardly credible voices when it comes to the role women play in their society and the role that women leaders play.” “And what you’ve heard us say time and time again for as long as Taliban continues to essentially hold back 50 per cent of its population from fully integrating into society, fully participating in society. It certainly is not going to be able to reach the international recognition that we know they’re seeking,” he added.
In the recent 2024 US election, Trump won a second term as President of the United States after securing 295 electoral votes in the presidential election, defeating Democratic rival Kamala Harris, who garnered 226 votes. This makes Trump the first US president since 1892 to return to office after losing a previous election.
Trump’s return to the White House marks only the second time in US history that a president has served two non-consecutive terms. The first such instance was Grover Cleveland, who served as president in 1884 and 1892. Trump had earlier served as US President from 2016 to 2020.
