Four children killed in a blast in south-west Pakistan

Four children were killed and 30 others were injured in an attack on Wednesday, May 21, near Khuzdar Zero Point in south-west Pakistan. The children were being carried in a bus from an Army Public School when it was targeted by a heinous blast on the Quetta-Karchi Highway.

"A bus carrying children of the APS (Army Public School) was targeted with a bomb, the nature of which is still being determined", said Yashir Iqbal Dashti, a senior local government official in Kuzdhar District in Balochistan province.

“The enemy displayed brutality and attacked innocent children. The attack on the school bus is a heinous conspiracy by the enemy to create instability in the country. With the unity of the nation, every conspiracy will be foiled. We stand with the grieving families of the deceased children," read a post on X by the official account of the Federal Interior Minister of Pakistan.

Federal Interior Minister of Pakistan, Mohsin Naqvi, had condemned the attack on innocent children and prayed for the lives who died in the attack.

"Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi strongly condemns the explosion in a bus near Khuzdar Zero Point. The Interior Minister expresses deep sorrow and regret over the death of 4 children. Heartfelt sympathy and condolences to the families of the deceased children. Beasts who target innocent children deserve no mercy," read the post on X.

There had been no report on the perpetrator of the attack; however, two separatist groups Balochistan Liberation Front and the Balochistan Liberation Army, had been linked with the prior attacks in the Balochistan region.

According to a report by local media outlet, the Balochistan Post, earlier on May 19 Balochistan Liberation Front and the Balochistan Liberation Army have claimed several attacks in Kalat, Gwadar, Panjgur, Awaran, and Buleda, killing at least 12 people. Pakistani authorities have neither confirmed nor denied reports of these attacks.

Pakistan has been facing disturbances in the Balochistan region for over a decade now. The people of Balochistan have been growing increasingly anxious as they perceive that the Punjabi has colonised the Baloch, the Sindhi, and the Pashtun. They have been waging a war of liberation against their coloniser. Numerous reports of unlawful detention, enforced disappearance, and violence against human rights had surfaced Balochistan region.