QUETTA: The death toll from the school bus bombing in Khuzdar rose to 10 on Monday after two more students, Sheema Ibrahim and Muskan, died while under treatment at a hospital in Quetta.
Security officials confirmed that the total number of students martyred in the attack now includes seven girls and one boy. Those who lost their lives earlier included Sania Soomro (Grade 6), Hafsa Kausar (Grade 7), and Ayesha Saleem (Grade 10), followed by Haider, Malaika, and Sehr Saleem, who succumbed to their injuries in hospital.
According to intelligence sources, the suicide bombing was planned and funded by India. Officials vowed accountability for both local collaborators and foreign handlers, describing the attack as a targeted assault on children and education.
Director General ISPR Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry stated during a press conference in Rawalpindi that the bombing was more than an attack on a bus—it was an attack on national values and the societal fabric. He said the state’s response would be resolute and that those responsible would face consequences.
DG ISPR added that India has been sponsoring terrorism in the region for two decades, destabilising peace through repeated acts of violence in Balochistan. He recalled that in 2009, Pakistan submitted a dossier to the United Nations detailing evidence of Indian involvement in such activities.
