A devastating bomb attack on an army school bus in Pakistan’s southwestern province of Balochistan has killed at least eight people, including six children, and left dozens more injured, intensifying tensions between Pakistan and India amid a fragile ceasefire.
The explosion occurred early Wednesday morning in the city of Khuzdar as a bus carrying around 40 schoolchildren made its way to class. Survivors described chaos and terror as the blast flung children across the vehicle. Fourteen-year-old Mohammad Ahmad was among those injured, telling his father, army sergeant Nasir Mehmood, that he was thrown across the bus by the force of the explosion.
“When I heard the attack happened, the ground fell from beneath my feet,” Mehmood said, recounting the scene at the local hospital where injured children screamed in pain. Only the most critically wounded were airlifted to Quetta’s Combined Military Hospital, where doctors say several remain in life-threatening condition.
No group has claimed responsibility for the bombing, which took place amid renewed hostilities between India and Pakistan following April’s deadly attack in Pahalgam, Indian-administered Kashmir, where 26 people, mostly tourists, were killed.
Pakistan has publicly accused India of being behind the Khuzdar bombing, pointing to what officials call a “pattern” of Indian proxy operations in Balochistan. India has categorically denied the allegations, dismissing them as politically motivated and lacking evidence.
“This was India’s provocation,” said military spokesperson Lt Gen Chaudhry in a press briefing. “It had nothing to do with the Baloch identity.”
The region of Balochistan has long been a hotbed of insurgency, with separatist groups such as the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) carrying out attacks against the state. In March, 21 people were killed during a train siege in Sibi district, an attack later claimed by the BLA. Pakistan, along with the UK and US, designates the BLA a terrorist organization.
At the same time, Pakistan’s security forces have faced accusations of human rights abuses in the province, including enforced disappearances and arbitrary detentions targeting ethnic Baloch communities.
Information Minister Attaullah Tarar defended the state’s actions, suggesting the need for “faceless courts” to protect prosecutors in terror trials. When pressed for evidence of Indian involvement in the Khuzdar attack, Tarar referred only to “a history” of alleged aggression, offering no specific proof.
As images of children’s shoes, torn backpacks, and twisted wreckage circulate on Pakistani news outlets, the attack threatens to derail any potential diplomatic progress between the nuclear-armed neighbours. The future of the ceasefire and the possibility of renewed talks remain uncertain.
