At least four children and two adults were killed yesterday in a suspected suicide bombing that targeted a school bus in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province, which has seen a surge in violence. The victims included the bus driver and his assistant. The attack occurred in the Khuzdar area of Balochistan as the bus was en route to a school attended by children of military personnel and local residents.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif accused India of supporting the militants behind the attack, which happened roughly two weeks after the two countries reached a ceasefire that ended the most intense clashes between them in decades. Those clashes were sparked by an attack on tourists in the Indian-administered side of Kashmir, for which New Delhi blamed Islamabad, accusing it of backing the group responsible. In a statement, Sharif said, “Terrorists sponsored by India attacking innocent children on a school bus is clear evidence of their hostility.”
The Pakistani military also stated that the attack was ‘planned and orchestrated’ by India. The two nuclear-armed neighbours frequently accuse each other of backing armed groups operating on each other’s soil. The latest four-day confrontation earlier in May was triggered by the tourist attack in Pahalgam, in Indian Kashmir. Pakistan has denied any involvement in supporting the perpetrators.
India rejected what it called ‘baseless allegations’ from Pakistan. The Indian Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement that it is ‘typical’ for Islamabad to point fingers at New Delhi. No group has claimed responsibility for yesterday’s attack.
Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti confirmed that four children, the bus driver, and his assistant were killed. Yasir Iqbal Dashti, a senior official in the Khuzdar district government, said, “The school bus targeted was designated for children of military personnel, and the nature of the attack is not yet confirmed.” He added, “Initial investigations suggest it was a suicide bombing.”
A senior police official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the same death toll and added that 12 others were injured. Earlier, the military had stated in media reports that five people had been killed, including three children. Footage shared on social media showed the destroyed remains of the bus and a pile of schoolbags.
The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) is the most active militant group in the region, which has seen a sharp rise in attacks, mostly targeting security forces.
In March, dozens of militants and off-duty security personnel were killed when the BLA seized a passenger train carrying hundreds of people. In 2014, militants from the Pakistani Taliban attacked the Army Public School in Peshawar, in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, killing more than 150 people, most of them students. That horrific attack sparked a broad crackdown on militancy that had been growing for years in the border regions.
&uuid=(email))