- Vehicle carrying more than 30kg of explosives rammed into the bus: BDS
- Cowardly and ghastly attack planned, orchestrated by the terrorist state of India and executed by its proxies in Balochistan: ISPR
- CM Bugti vows not only to expose every terrorist operating in the province but also eradicate them completely
QUETTA: Five people, including three schoolchildren, were martyred and 43 others injured in a ‘suicide attack’ targeting a school bus in Khuzdar early Wednesday morning, security and civil officials confirmed.
According to the security officials, the suspected bomber rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into the school bus as it drove past Khuzdar’s Zero Point near Rakhshan Hotel.
Deputy Commissioner Yasir Iqbal Dashti said that the bus was transporting students to the Army Public School in the Khuzdar cantonment. “The vehicle was laden with more than 30kg of explosives,” the Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) claimed.
The military’s media wing stated that “three innocent children and two adults have embraced Shahadat” and multiple children have sustained injuries in the “cowardly and ghastly attack planned and orchestrated by the terrorist state of India and executed by its proxies in Balochistan.
The ISPR added that India has unleashed its proxies to spread terror and unrest in Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa through such heinous and cowardly acts after miserably failing on the battlefield.
Soon after the deadly attack, security forces threw a cordon around the area and launched an investigation. Security was tightened in and around Khuzdar following the bombing, with checkpoints established and patrols intensified to prevent further attacks.
Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti revealed that the intelligence agencies had prior warnings of a proxy strike being plotted by hostile forces. “We could not have imagined such brutality, where innocent schoolchildren would be targeted,” he told the media at a hurriedly called presser. “This is the true face of our enemies.”
The Khuzdar DC said the bodies and the injured were taken to the Khuzdar Combined Military Hospital, from where the seriously injured would be referred to medical facilities in Quetta and Karachi.
Police, the Frontier Corps (FC), and other law enforcement agencies’ personnel reached the site of the incident to collect evidence for an investigation.
While a probe was underway, the DC said preliminary findings indicated that the attack was a suicide blast.
On Monday, the ISPR said 12 terrorists of “Indian proxy” outfits were killed by security forces in separate engagements in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.
Last month, ISPR Director General Lt-Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry accused India of activating its “assets” to intensify terrorist attacks in Pakistan.
He had detailed the arrest of a Pakistani terror suspect allegedly trained by India as “irrefutable evidence” of state-sponsored terrorism directed by Indian military personnel.
Condemnations pouring in
PM Shehbaz earlier condemned the attack as a cowardly act.
“The attack on innocent children in a school bus by terrorists working under Indian patronage is clear proof of their hostility towards education in Balochistan,” he said in a statement.
Expressing deep sorrow over the death of the children, he said that the terrorists have “crossed all limits of barbarity”, vowing to bring them to their end.
“The sympathies of the entire nation, including mine, are with the families of these innocent children, who were victims of the brutality of terrorists.”
He directed the security forces to bring the perpetrators to justice and showed support for the armed forces’ resolve to eradicate terrorism from the country.
President Asif Ali Zardari termed the attack a “heinous and inhumane crime.” He vowed to expose this “Indian-backed terrorism” at an international level.
“These terrorists do not want to see Balochistan developed,” he said in a statement.
“While our prayers go out for the departed souls and their families, the planners & orchestrators of this heinous terrorist attack shall be brought to justice,” said Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar.
Balochistan government spokesperson Shahid Rind denounced the attack as the “hideous face of Indian state-sponsored terrorism,” as well as a “cowardly and inhumane act”.
In a statement, Rind echoed the ISPR’s stance, saying that India was “creating instability in Balochistan to hide its failures.” He called India’s “state-sponsored terrorism” a threat to world peace.
Naqvi also strongly condemned the “explosion inside the bus near Khuzdar Zero Point”.
In a statement, he expressed deep sorrow and grief over the death of the children and extended his condolences to their families.
“The beasts who target innocent children do not deserve any leniency. The enemy demonstrated barbarity by attacking innocent children,” Naqvi asserted.
“The attack on the school bus is a heinous conspiracy of the enemy to create instability in the country. With the unity of the nation, we will foil every conspiracy,” the interior minister vowed.
Naqvi also prayed for the speedy recovery of the wounded.
Communications Minister Abdul Aleem Khan also denounced the attack, saying that “terrorism against innocent children was the height of cowardice.”
CM Bugti vowed that the government would not only expose every terrorist operating in the province but also “eradicate them completely.”
“Following the success of Operation [Bunyanum Marsoos] and India’s disgraceful defeat, they have now resorted to cowardly and shameful tactics,” he wrote on X.
Later, while talking to the media, Bugti said the government had solid information that Ajit Doval, the Indian national security adviser, was planning something in Balochistan but did not expect him to target children.
He said four children were slain while there were 42 injured in the attack.
“We had intelligence regarding this, but to target innocent children, this is India’s cowardice.”
