Quetta, May 25, 2025: The death toll from the devastating suicide bombing on a school bus in Khuzdar has risen to eight, after two more critically injured students died in hospital on Sunday.
According to security officials, the two female students, identified as Shema Ibrahim and Muskan, succumbed to their injuries after fighting for their lives for nearly four days. The tragic incident has now claimed the lives of seven female and one male student.
The attack occurred on May 21, when a suicide bomber targeted a school bus near Zero Point on the Quetta-Karachi highway. The bus was transporting students to the Army Public School in Khuzdar Cantonment. The blast killed five people — including three female students — on the spot, and injured 43 others.
In the immediate aftermath, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir visited Quetta to meet the victims and review the security situation. Both leaders condemned the attack in the strongest terms and vowed to bring those responsible to justice.
“This heinous act demands the same national resolve that we recently demonstrated against Indian aggression,” the prime minister stated. “Pakistan’s security forces and law enforcement agencies will relentlessly pursue all those involved in this barbaric act.”
According to a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office, the government has attributed the attack to Indian-backed militants operating under the name Fitna Al Hindustan, describing them as “Indian-sponsored proxies” bent on destabilizing Pakistan.
“This school bus, carrying innocent children, was targeted by proxies of the Indian state, which has emerged as the epicenter of regional instability,” the PMO noted. “The architects, abettors, and enablers of this crime will be held accountable. India, while posing as a victim of terrorism, has once again been exposed as a primary perpetrator.”
The attack came just weeks after a ceasefire was brokered between Pakistan and India, following heightened military tensions in the wake of the Pahalgam attack in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
Reinforcing this stance, the military high command declared an unyielding resolve to eliminate all foreign-sponsored terrorist networks. During the 270th Corps Commanders’ Conference, chaired by Field Marshal Asim Munir, the army leadership vowed to dismantle India-backed militant proxies operating in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
“Following its failure on the military front post-Pahalgam, India has resorted to covert operations through non-state actors to pursue its destabilization agenda,” the forum concluded. “Pakistan will never allow its peace to be undermined by externally sponsored terrorism.”
