ISLAMABAD — A suicide car bomb struck a school bus on Wednesday in southwestern Pakistan, killing at least five people, including three children, and wounding 38 others, according to local officials.
The attack is the latest act of violence in the restive Balochistan province, which has long been plagued by separatist insurgency.
The bombing occurred on the outskirts of Khuzdar, a city in central Balochistan, as the bus was transporting children to a military-run school, said Yasir Iqbal, the local deputy commissioner.
Security forces quickly cordoned off the area and emergency responders rushed the wounded to local hospitals. Television footage showed a mangled school bus surrounded by debris and emergency personnel.
While no group immediately claimed responsibility, suspicion has focused on Baloch separatist groups, particularly the banned Balochistan Liberation Army (B.L.A.), which the United States designated a terrorist organization in 2019. The B.L.A. and other insurgent groups in the region have a history of targeting military personnel, infrastructure, and occasionally civilians.
Pakistan’s interior minister, Mohsin Naqvi, condemned the bombing in strong terms, calling it “sheer barbarism.” In a televised statement, he said, “Targeting innocent children reveals the beastly nature of the enemy. This act deserves no leniency.”
Authorities initially reported that four children had died, but later revised the death toll to include two adults among the victims. Officials warned that the number of casualties could rise, as several of the wounded — many of them children — remain in critical condition.
The attack comes amid a recent uptick in violence in Balochistan, where ethnic tensions, economic marginalization, and opposition to state infrastructure projects have fueled decades of unrest. The region is also a focal point of the multibillion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a strategic initiative that has drawn increased security scrutiny.
