At least five people – including three schoolchildren – were martyred and several others injured in a suicide attack targeting a school bus in Khuzdar early Wednesday morning, civil and military officials said.
The suspected bomber rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into the school bus as it drove past Zero Point near Rakhshan Hotel, Deputy Commissioner Yasir Iqbal Dashti said, adding that the bus was ferrying students to the Army Public School (APS) situated within the Khuzdar cantonment.
The vehicle was rigged with more than 30 kilograms of explosives, according to the Bomb Disposal Squad.
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-Pakhtunkhawa 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."
Indian proxies are behind this atrocity, the chief minister said, adding that Afghanistan's territory was being used as a launch pad for such attacks aimed at destabilising Balochistan.
Balochistan has been in the grip of a deadly separatist insurgency since the killing of Baloch chieftain Nawab Akbar Bugti in a security operation in 2006. The groups involved in the insurgency are being supported, trained, and bankrolled by the India spy agency RAW.
"Having failed in the Operation Bunnianum Marsoos and being hunted by military and law enforcement agencies, these 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," added the ISPR.
"Use of terrorism as a state policy by Indian political government is abhorrent and reflective of their low morality and disregard for basic human norms," it added.
The military further added that 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. "Pakistan Armed Forces with support of brave Pakistani nation stand united to uproot Indian-sponsored terrorism from Pakistan in its all manifestations."
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir rushed to Quetta on an emergency visit where they received a briefing on the Khuzdar attack, the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement.
The premier condemned the terrorist attack and expressed deep sorrow over the deaths of innocent children and their teachers. He extended his condolences to the bereaved families and directed authorities to identify and hold those responsible accountable.
President Asif Zardari also denounced the attack as a human rights violation and extended condolences to the bereaved families.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) said that "the deliberate targeting of schoolchildren - innocent noncombatants in every sense - is a red line that must never be crossed. This act violates the most basic tenets of humanity and international humanitarian law," it said in a statement.
"The state has an obligation to uphold law and order by strengthening civilian institutions and the rule of law - not through indiscriminate kinetic responses," it added while calling for the immediate identification and prosecution of the perpetrators and their enablers through lawful means. The HRCP also stressed the urgent need for a meaningful political dialogue to address the deep-rooted problems of representation, governance, and resource distribution in Balochistan.
Condemnations also poured in from different countries. The United States denounced the murder of innocent children "beyond comprehension." In a statement shared on microblogging site X (formerly Twitter), the US Embassy in Islamabad expressed deep sorrow over the attack and extended solidarity with the victims and their families.
"No child should ever fear going to school," US Chargé d'Affaires Natalie Baker was reported as saying in the statement. "We stand with those in Pakistan working to end this violence."
Chinese Ambassador Jiang Zaidong also offered "deepest condolences" to the victims' families and sincere sympathy to the injured. "We strongly condemn this terrorist attack, express our deepest condolences to the deceased and sincere sympathy to the injured and the bereaved families," the envoy said at a ceremony marking the 74th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Pakistan.
"China opposes all forms of terrorism and will continue to firmly support Pakistan in advancing counter-terrorism operations, maintaining social stability, and protecting the safety of the people."
Officials say that India has been frustrated after its defeats on the military and diplomatic fronts during the recent confrontation with Pakistan – and now it has activated its proxy terrorists to unleash chaos in the country.
India considers itself the regional hegemon, but DG ISPR Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said in a TV interview earlier this week that: "Pakistan will never bow down to Indian hegemony ... the sooner they [India] realise this, the better it will be for regional and global peace."
(With additional input from News Desk)
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