4 children killed, 38 injured after suicide car bomb rams into school bus in Balochistan

A tragic suicide car bombing targeting a school bus in Pakistan’s volatile Balochistan province has left four children dead and at least 38 others injured, officials confirmed. The attack occurred in Khuzdar district as the bus was ferrying children to school, according to Yasir Iqbal, the local deputy commissioner.

While no group has yet claimed responsibility, authorities suspect the involvement of ethnic Baloch separatist outfits, which have a history of targeting both security forces and civilians in the region.

Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi strongly condemned the attack, expressing deep sorrow over the loss of innocent lives. Referring to the attackers as "beasts," Naqvi remarked, “This is sheer barbarism. Targeting innocent children shows the enemy’s inhuman mindset and such perpetrators deserve no mercy.”

The incident underscores the deteriorating security situation in Balochistan, a region long plagued by insurgency and militancy. The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), one of the most prominent separatist groups operating in the region, has been designated a terrorist organisation by the United States since 2019.

The school bus attack comes on the heels of another recent bombing in the Qillah Abdullah district, near the Afghanistan border, which claimed four more lives and wounded 20 others. That blast occurred near Jabbar Market, adjacent to the Frontier Corps Fort, triggering not only extensive damage but also a brief exchange of gunfire between unidentified assailants and FC personnel.

Additionally, on May 6, seven Pakistani soldiers were killed in Balochistan when their vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device (IED). The BLA was blamed for that ambush as well.