- Architects, abettors, and enablers of this crime will be held accountable and brought to justice: PM
- Says truth about India’s cunning role, a real perpetrator of terrorism but feigns as a victim, stands exposed before world
- It’s now time the nation displays a very strong resolve to bring the fight against foreign-sponsored terrorism to its logical and decisive end: COAS
- Indian terror proxies being employed as a state tool by India to foment terrorism in Pakistan against soft targets: ISPR
- Terms use of terrorism as a state policy by Indian political govt reflective of their low morality
QUETTA/RAWALPINDI: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday reiterated that the entire nation “stood resolute behind its armed forces” and “the law enforcement agencies” to “relentlessly pursue” the culprits of the attack on a school bus in Balochistan’s Khuzdar that left three children among five dead and several others injured.
A statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), issued after PM Shehbaz Sharif’s daylong visit to Quetta following the incident, quoted the premier as saying, “Pakistan’s security forces and law enforcement agencies will relentlessly pursue all those involved in this barbaric act.
“The architects, abettors, and enablers of this crime will be held accountable and brought to justice, and the truth about India’s cunning role, a real perpetrator of terrorism but feigning as a victim, stands exposed before the world.”
The statement detailed the incident, claiming the act was carried out by “state-sponsored proxies of India (Fitna al-Hindustan)” and added that “dastardly terrorist incidents” were being orchestrated through proxies in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, “deliberately targeting civilians in a futile attempt to destabilize Pakistan.”
In a reprehensible and cowardly act of terrorism, a school bus carrying innocent children was targeted today in #Khuzdar, #Balochistan, #Pakistan by state sponsored proxies (Fitna Al Hindustan) of #India which the world has largely come to know as… pic.twitter.com/PWcht5H6hu
— Pakistan Armed Forces News 🇵🇰 (@PakistanFauj) May 21, 2025
Defense Minister Khawaja Asif, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, and Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir accompanied PM Shehbaz Sharif during the Quetta visit to meet the victims of the attack, the statement added.
Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti and the Quetta Corps commander briefed the premier, his delegation, and Field Marshal Gen. Munir about the incident, which led to the “martyrdom of three innocent children and two soldiers,” as well as 53 others injured, including 39 children, eight of whom were in critical condition, the statement added.
On the occasion, the participants of the briefing expressed grief over the loss of lives, condemning the “shameful and despicable act.”
The statement said that the terrorist groups were “not only being exploited by India as instruments of state policy but also stand as a stain on the honor and values of the Baloch and Pashtun people, who have long rejected violence and extremism.
Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif accompanied by Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir NI (M), visit Quetta to enquire about the injured children and other victims of horrific attack on a school bus in #Khuzdar, #Balochistan on 21 May 2025.#COAS #Pakistan #KhuzdarAttack #ISPR pic.twitter.com/cbpvpYOja1
— Pakistan Armed Forces News 🇵🇰 (@PakistanFauj) May 21, 2025
“India’s reliance on such morally indefensible tactics, particularly the deliberate targeting of children, demands urgent attention from the international community.
“The use of terrorism as a tool of foreign policy must be unequivocally condemned and confronted.”
It further quoted PM Shehbaz as saying that the entire nation stood resolute behind its armed forces and law enforcement agencies.
The statement added that the premier and COAS highlighted that “it’s now time that the nation display a very strong resolve similar to the one shown recently against the aggression by India to bring the fight against foreign-sponsored terrorism to its logical and decisive end.”
Earlier, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) issued a statement saying, “In yet another cowardly and ghastly attack planned and orchestrated by the terrorist state of India and executed by its proxies in Balochistan, the innocent school-going children’s bus was targeted today in Khuzdar.”
It further said that “after having miserably failed in the battlefield, through these most heinous and cowardly such-like acts, Indian proxies have been unleashed to spread terror and unrest in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.”
The statement said that “Indian terror proxies are being employed as a state tool by India to foment terrorism in Pakistan against soft targets such as innocent children and civilians.”
It noted that India had “failed” in Pakistan’s Operation Bunyanum Marsoos during the recent conflict, and its proxies were “being hunted down by military and law enforcement agencies.”
Government and Military leadership receive a detailed briefing on cowardly Khuzdar Bus attack by Corps Commander Quetta #PakistanArmy represented by:#COAS
DG ISI
DG MO
DG MI
GOC 33
IG FC Bln (N)#KhuzdarAttack #Balochistan #ISPR pic.twitter.com/3ivb3fkk3x— Pakistan Armed Forces News 🇵🇰 (@PakistanFauj) May 21, 2025
“Use of terrorism as a state policy by the Indian political government is abhorrent and reflective of their low morality and disregard of [sic] basic human norms,” the ISPR said.
“Planners, abettors, and executors of this cowardly Indian-sponsored attack will be hunted down and brought to justice, and [the] heinous face of India will be exposed in front of the entire world,” the military vowed.
Pakistan Armed Forces, with the support of the brave Pakistani nation, stand “united to uproot Indian-sponsored terrorism from Pakistan in all its manifestations,” the ISPR said.
