Updated 21 May 2025 at 12:11 IST
A suicide car bomber struck a school bus in southwestern Pakistan on Wednesday, killing at least four children and wounding 38 others, according to a government official.
The attack is the latest in the tense Balochistan province, which has experienced a long-standing insurgency marked by attacks from separatist groups, including the outlawed Balochistan Liberation Army—designated a terrorist organization by the United States in 2019.
The bombing occurred in the Khuzdar district as the bus was transporting children to a military-run school in the city, said local Deputy Commissioner Yasir Iqbal.
No group has claimed responsibility so far.
However, suspicion has fallen on ethnic Baloch separatists, who frequently target security forces and civilians in the region.
Pakistan’s Interior Minister, Mohsin Naqvi, strongly condemned the attack and expressed deep sorrow over the deaths of the children. He called the perpetrators “beasts” who deserve no leniency, saying the enemy had committed an act of “sheer barbarism by targeting innocent children.”
Published 21 May 2025 at 12:00 IST