A bus carrying students was targeted in a blast in Balochistan’s Khuzdar district on Wednesday morning, leaving three children among five dead, while several others were injured, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).
“In yet another cowardly and ghastly attack planned and orchestrated by terrorist state of India and executed by its proxies in Balochistan, innocent school-going children’s bus was targeted today in Khuzdar,” a statement by the ISPR reads.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif subsequently reached Quetta later in the day for security briefings and the law and order situation in the province after the talk.
The ISPR said that as per the initial reports, “three innocent children and two adults have embraced martyrdom and multiple children have sustained injuries.”
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”.
“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.
In response to the tragedy, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) issued a powerful statement of condemnation. Karen Reidy, Chief of Advocacy and Communication for UNICEF Pakistan, expressed deep sorrow and demanded urgent action to protect children.
“UNICEF strongly condemns the horrific attack on a school bus in Khuzdar, Balochistan, which reportedly claimed the lives of four children and left dozens more injured, many critically,” Reidy said. “Going to school should never be a dangerous act for any child, anywhere. Yet this is the heartbreaking reality for too many children in Pakistan.”
She stressed the need to end such violence and reiterated that children must never be targets in any conflict or act of aggression.
“Young lives, dreams, and futures shattered. Families devastated. The physical and emotional scars left for child survivors to bear. Enough is enough. Children are not, and must never be, the targets of violence,” she added.
The United States also condemned the attack. The brutal incident has shocked the nation and drawn international condemnation, with US Chargé d’Affaires Natalie Baker expressing deep sorrow and solidarity with the victims.
In an official statement issued by the US Embassy in Islamabad, Baker said, “We join Pakistan’s leaders in condemning the brutal, unconscionable attack on a school bus in Khuzdar, Balochistan. The murder of innocent children is beyond comprehension. We grieve with the families who lost loved ones, and our thoughts are with those recovering.”
“No child should ever fear going to school,” Baker emphasized in her statement. “We stand with those in Pakistan working to end this violence.”