Bombing
On 21 May 2025, a suicide bomber rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a school bus in Khuzdar city, located in the southwestern Pakistani province of Balochistan, [1] at a place known as Zero Point, 8 kilometers from the city center in the Khuzdar district. [4] The bus was transporting 46 students of the Army Public School in Khuzdar. [6] [7] Three children were killed instantly, and several others sustained injuries. [9] [10] [11] Subsequently, five more students succumbed to their injuries, raising the death toll to 10. [5] [12] [13] [14]
The Bomb Disposal Squad later confirmed that the attacker's vehicle contained over 30 kilograms of explosives. [15]
Responsibility
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing. Pakistani authorities accused Indian intelligence agencies of orchestrating the attack through proxy militant groups, amid heightened bilateral tensions due to the fallout of the last month's Pahalgam attack and the subsequent 2025 India–Pakistan conflict. [3] [6] [16] [8] Deutsche Welle said "[o]bservers say there could be several motives for the attack, but it cannot be ruled out that the attack could have been prevented if there were no flaws in the security plan and effective arrangements were made." [8]
Pakistani officials indicated that the bombing bore the hallmarks of previous Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) attacks and confirmed that the attack was premeditated, aimed at demoralizing Pakistani forces by targeting their families. [2] [17] A preliminary investigation report into the attack was submitted to the government while a case of assault was registered at a Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) police station by local authorities. [8]
India rejected allegations of involvement. In a statement posted on X, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said "India rejects the baseless allegations made by Pakistan regarding Indian involvement with the incident in Khuzdar." Further claiming the allegation from Pakistan was to "divert attention from its reputation as the global epicentre of terrorism". [18] [19]
Abdullah Khan, a senior security analyst based in Islamabad and Managing Director of the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS) in an interview with Deutsche Welle , said the Balochistan insurgency is complex and "[w]e should not blame anyone without investigation like the Indian Pahalgam claim", as no group has claimed responsibility so far, unlike previous attacks such as the Jaffar Express hijacking. Khan said the motive of the attack "could be that anti-peace elements are trying to weaken the state writ". [8] Mir Khuda Bakhsh Marri, a political analyst on Balochistan affairs and former Sindh minister said the provincial government was "blaming outsiders to hide their incompetence". Marri said there is "need to formulate a strategy to improve this situation through a comprehensive investigation", and that the provincial government was "defaming the state due to its incompetence and this apathy and negligence is being taken advantage of by those who do not want peace here". [8]
Following statements by the DG ISPR Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry attributing Khuzdar attack to external actors, Pakistani government officials declared their intention to take decisive action and ensure accountability for the perpetrators. [20] General Chaudhry also claimed that "Indian social media accounts affiliated with the Indian intelligence agency RAW posted about the attack beforehand." [21]
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Balochistan Liberation Army (alleged by Pakistan)
