College bus assault caught in tensions between Pakistan and India

[ad_1] Azadeh Moshiri Pakistan Correspondent

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/7ca9/live/3a7a96f0-3943-11f0-9cbf-0f8de7be0cc5.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/7ca9/live/3a7a96f0-3943-11f0-9cbf-0f8de7be0cc5.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/7ca9/live/3a7a96f0-3943-11f0-9cbf-0f8de7be0cc5.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/7ca9/live/3a7a96f0-3943-11f0-9cbf-0f8de7be0cc5.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/7ca9/live/3a7a96f0-3943-11f0-9cbf-0f8de7be0cc5.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/7ca9/live/3a7a96f0-3943-11f0-9cbf-0f8de7be0cc5.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/7ca9/live/3a7a96f0-3943-11f0-9cbf-0f8de7be0cc5.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/7ca9/live/3a7a96f0-3943-11f0-9cbf-0f8de7be0cc5.jpg.webp" loading="eager" alt="Anadolu via Getty Images Students injured in a bomb attack on a school bus receive medical treatment in a hospital on May 23, 2025 in Balochistan province, Pakistan. " class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> Anadolu by way of Getty Photos Forty schoolchildren had been on the bus which exploded in Balochistan

"After I heard the assault occurred, the bottom fell from beneath my ft. All of the mother and father began working in the direction of the bus, no-one might perceive what was happening," Nasir Mehmood, a sergeant in Pakistan's military tells us.

Nasir and I are within the metropolis of Quetta, sitting within the ready room of the biggest army hospital within the province of Balochistan. His 14-year-old son Mohammad Ahmad instructed him he was flung throughout the military college bus in a bombing in Khuzdar, just a few hours' drive away.

The bus was carrying round 40 schoolchildren when it exploded at about 07:40 native time (02:40 GMT) on Wednesday.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/dedd/live/1cd46c30-3947-11f0-8947-7d6241f9fce9.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/dedd/live/1cd46c30-3947-11f0-8947-7d6241f9fce9.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/dedd/live/1cd46c30-3947-11f0-8947-7d6241f9fce9.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/dedd/live/1cd46c30-3947-11f0-8947-7d6241f9fce9.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/dedd/live/1cd46c30-3947-11f0-8947-7d6241f9fce9.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/dedd/live/1cd46c30-3947-11f0-8947-7d6241f9fce9.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/dedd/live/1cd46c30-3947-11f0-8947-7d6241f9fce9.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/dedd/live/1cd46c30-3947-11f0-8947-7d6241f9fce9.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Nasir Mehmood, wearing a light blue shirt" class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> Nasir Mehmood, whose son was injured within the assault on a military college bus in Khuzdar

"I reached the hospital, and there have been screams of kids in every single place, it was the one factor you may hear," Nasir stated. "My eyes simply stored trying to find my son."

Solely probably the most critical circumstances had been airlifted to the Mixed Navy Hospital. The army have stated the demise toll has now risen to eight, with six kids killed and dozens injured. No group has admitted finishing up the assault.

It's uncommon for overseas journalists to be allowed to enter the province, south-west of Pakistan, not to mention a hospital on the military's compound. The army stated they wished worldwide media to witness the affect of the assault themselves.

Pakistan alleges India is linked to the assault, although there isn't a impartial proof - and it's a declare Delhi firmly denies.

India and Pakistan are within the midst of a fragile ceasefire, after a two-week battle that was their most important one in many years. It noticed them alternate drone assaults, missiles and artillery hearth, and left dozens of casualties.

This assault in Balochistan is now in the midst of the tensions, with information channels broadcasting photos of the kids who had been killed, most of them women between the ages of 12 and 16, alongside accusations of an "Indian terror marketing campaign". Photos of scrapped metallic, kids's sneakers and deserted backpacks strewn alongside the scene spotlight the tragedy.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/d2e5/live/ce46d2c0-3945-11f0-8519-3b5a01ebe413.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/d2e5/live/ce46d2c0-3945-11f0-8519-3b5a01ebe413.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/d2e5/live/ce46d2c0-3945-11f0-8519-3b5a01ebe413.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/d2e5/live/ce46d2c0-3945-11f0-8519-3b5a01ebe413.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/d2e5/live/ce46d2c0-3945-11f0-8519-3b5a01ebe413.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/d2e5/live/ce46d2c0-3945-11f0-8519-3b5a01ebe413.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/d2e5/live/ce46d2c0-3945-11f0-8519-3b5a01ebe413.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/d2e5/live/ce46d2c0-3945-11f0-8519-3b5a01ebe413.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="The arm covered with henna, of a student being treated in the Combined Military Hospital, in Quetta" class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> A pupil being handled within the Mixed Navy Hospital in Quetta

As we walked via the intensive care unit, some kids lay unconscious on their beds, others thrashed in ache. One younger lady stored calling out for her mom as nurses tried to calm her. Docs instructed us a number of kids had been in crucial situation, having suffered in depth trauma, burns and fractured bones. The night time earlier than we arrived, one other little one had died.

Pakistan's Minister of Data, Attaullah Tarar, says there's a historical past of Indian proxies working in Balochistan. In flip, India says that Pakistan has been harbouring militants who wage assaults on Indian-administered Kashmir for years.

The killing of 26 individuals in April, most of them vacationers in Pahalgam, sparked the newest battle. Pakistan has known as for an open investigation led by an impartial occasion.

Nevertheless, Tarar denied that such an investigation was crucial in Balochistan.

"Pahalgam was a one-off incident," he instructed us. "We're the victims on this case. We have now been struggling. There's a historical past. We have now proof. So what can I say?"

Once we requested him what that proof was, he as soon as once more pointed to claims of a historical past of assaults. He gave us no different particulars of India's alleged involvement on this assault.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/2b8d/live/4f33ee30-3947-11f0-8947-7d6241f9fce9.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/2b8d/live/4f33ee30-3947-11f0-8947-7d6241f9fce9.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/2b8d/live/4f33ee30-3947-11f0-8947-7d6241f9fce9.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/2b8d/live/4f33ee30-3947-11f0-8947-7d6241f9fce9.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/2b8d/live/4f33ee30-3947-11f0-8947-7d6241f9fce9.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/2b8d/live/4f33ee30-3947-11f0-8947-7d6241f9fce9.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/2b8d/live/4f33ee30-3947-11f0-8947-7d6241f9fce9.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/2b8d/live/4f33ee30-3947-11f0-8947-7d6241f9fce9.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="A Pakistani soldier is part of the military convoy escorting the BBC in Quetta" class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> A Pakistani soldier - a part of the army convoy which escorted the BBC staff in Quetta

A turbulent province

Later, an officer drove us via Quetta's roads in a bus flanked by troopers carrying rifles and ammunition hanging from their pockets.

Balochistan has skilled many years of militant assaults linked to a nationalist insurgency. It's residence to a number of teams which accuse the federal government of exploiting its pure assets.

In March, some 21 individuals, most of them off-duty safety personnel, had been killed throughout a prepare siege in Balochistan's distant Sibi district.

That assault was carried out by the Balochistan Liberation Military (BLA).

Pakistan, in addition to a number of Western nations, together with the UK and US, have designated the BLA as a terrorist organisation.

Because the army responds to the insurgency, activists in Balochistan accuse Pakistan's safety forces of human rights violations. They are saying 1000's of ethnic Baloch individuals have been disappeared within the final 20 years, and are allegedly detained with out due authorized course of.

The minister of data instructed us the federal government believed "faceless courts" could be wanted within the province, hiding the identities of the judges and prosecutors in terror circumstances. Tarar stated the courts typically fail to convict the accused, due to a worry of retribution from militant teams.

In a press convention, the army spokesperson, Lt Gen Chaudhry, stated the college bus assault "had nothing to do with the Baloch id, somewhat it was simply India's provocation".