Security forces on Wednesday vowed to “relentlessly pursue” the culprits of the attack on a school bus in Balochistan’s Khuzdar, leaving three children among five dead and several others injured.
A statement by the Prime Minister’s Office, issued after PM Shehbaz Sharif’s one-day visit to Quetta following the incident, said, “Pakistan’s security forces and law enforcement agencies will relentlessly pursue all those involved in this barbaric act.
“The architects, abettors, and enablers of this crime will be held accountable and brought to justice and the truth about India’s cunning role, a real perpetrator of terrorism but feigns as a victim, stands exposed before the world.”
The statement detailed the incident, claiming the act was carried out by “state-sponsored proxies of India (Fitna al Hindustan)” and added that “dastardly terrorist incidents” were being orchestrated through proxies in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, “deliberately targeting civilians in a futile attempt to destabilise Pakistan”.
Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, and Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir also visited Quetta to meet the victims of the attack along with the prime minister, the statement added.
Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti and the Quetta Corps commander briefed the visitors about the incident, which led to the “martyrdom of three innocent children and two soldiers”, as well as 53 others injured, including 39 children, eight of whom were in critical condition, the statement added.
The visitors expressed grief over the loss of lives, condemning the “shameful and despicable act”.
The statement said that the terrorist groups were “not only being exploited by India as instruments of state policy but also stand as a stain on the honour and values of the Baloch and Pashtun people, who have long rejected violence and extremism.
“India’s reliance on such morally indefensible tactics, particularly the deliberate targeting of children, demands urgent attention from the international community.
“The use of terrorism as a tool of foreign policy must be unequivocally condemned and confronted.”
It further quoted PM Shehbaz as saying that the entire nation stood resolute behind its armed forces and law enforcement agencies.
The statement added that the premier and COAS highlighted that “it’s now time, that the nation displays a very strong resolve similar to the one shown recently against the aggression by India, to bring the fight against foreign-sponsored terrorism to its logical and decisive end.”
Earlier, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) issued a statement saying, “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.”
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.
Deputy Commissioner Yasir Iqbal Dashti told Dawn.com that the blast occurred when the school bus was near the Khuzdar Zero Point.
The bodies and the injured were taken to the Khuzdar Combined Military Hospital, from where the seriously injured would be referred to medical facilities in Quetta and Karachi, the DC said.
Police, the Frontier Corps (FC) and other law enforcement agencies personnel reached the site of the incident to collect evidence for an investigation.
While a probe was underway, the DC said preliminary findings indicated that the attack was a suicide blast.
On Monday, the ISPR said 12 terrorists of “Indian proxy” outfits were killed by security forces in separate engagements in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.
Last month, ISPR Director General Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry accused India of activating its “assets” to intensify terrorist attacks in Pakistan.
He had detailed the arrest of a Pakistani terror suspect allegedly trained by India as “irrefutable evidence” of state-sponsored terrorism directed by Indian military personnel.
Condemnations
PM Shehbaz earlier condemned the attack as a cowardly act.
“The attack on innocent children in a school bus by terrorists working under Indian patronage is clear proof of their hostility towards education in Balochistan,” he said in a statement.
Expressing deep sorrow over the death of the children, he said that the terrorists have “crossed all limits of barbarity”, vowing to bring them to their end.
“The sympathies of the entire nation, including mine, are with the families of these innocent children, who were victims of the brutality of terrorists.”
He directed the security forces to bring the perpetrators to justice and showed support for the armed forces’ resolve to eradicate terrorism from the country.
