Quetta. At least 13 people were killed and 30 others injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a nationalist party rally in insurgency-hit southwestern Pakistan on Tuesday night, police and hospital officials said.

Local police chief Majid Kaisrani said the blast took place near the grave on the outskirts of Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province. He said the body parts of the attacker were recovered from the scene.

Government hospital spokesman Waseem Baig said 13 bodies and dozens of injured had been admitted to the hospital and some of them were in critical condition.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack. The rally was organised to mark the death anniversary of veteran nationalist leader and former provincial chief minister Sardar Ataullah Mengal.

Balochistan National Party leader Akhtar Mengal is safe, but some of his supporters were killed or injured, senior police official Usama Amin said. Mengal has been a vocal critic of the government and often organises rallies demanding the release of missing Baloch nationalists.

Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfaraz Bugti strongly condemned the blast as a “cowardly act by the enemies of humanity”. He ordered a high-level investigation to provide the best treatment to the injured and bring the culprits to justice.

In Islamabad, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi also condemned the attack and accused “India-backed terrorists and their allies of trying to destabilise the country by targeting civilians”. However, he presented no evidence to support his claims.

In recent months, the Pakistani government and Chief Minister Bugti have repeatedly accused India of supporting the Pakistani Taliban and Baloch separatists. India has denied the allegations.

Balochistan has long been a centre of low-level insurgency. There, groups such as the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) have been demanding independence from the central government. These separatists have specifically targeted security forces and workers in Punjab province.

Officials say the insurgency has subsided, but violence continues in the region. In July, gunmen had abducted and killed nine people after intercepting two passenger buses from Quetta to Punjab province on a highway in Balochistan. Most of these attacks are claimed by the banned BLA group.