A bus carrying security forces in Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province was struck by a bomb on Sunday, killing at least five personnel and injuring 10.
The blast in the Naushki area severely damaged another nearby bus, local police chief Zafar Zamanani said.
The injured were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. The death toll could rise as many of the wounded were in serious condition.
Initial investigations indicated a suicide bomber rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into the bus, Dawn quoted the Naushki police as saying.
Balochistan chief minister Sarfraz Bugti condemned the attack, as did Pakistan’s interior minister Mohsin Naqvi. “We share the grief of the families of the deceased. Targeting innocent people is the height of brutality,” Mr Naqvi said on X.
“The enemy of the country is hatching a heinous conspiracy to create instability in the beloved homeland. The nation's firm resolve cannot be weakened by such cowardly acts.”
جاں بحق افراد کے خاندانوں کے غم میں برابر کے شریک ہیں،
— Ministry of Interior GoP (@MOIofficialGoP) March 16, 2025
معصوم لوگوں کو نشانہ بنانا سفاکیت کی انتہا ہے۔
ملک دشمن وطن عزیز میں عدم استحکام پیدا کرنے کی گھناؤنی سازش کر رہا ہے۔
اس طرح کی بزدلانہ کارروائیوں کے ذریعے قوم کے پختہ عزم کو کمزور نہیں کیا جاسکتا۔ محسن نقوی
“Those who play with the peace of Balochistan will be brought to a tragic end. Cowardly attacks cannot lower our morale. There is no place for terrorists in Balochistan, peace will be established at all costs,” Mr Bugti said.
He promised to bring the perpetrators of the attack to justice. “This war will continue till every last terrorist is eliminated.”
While no group had claimed responsibility by the afternoon, suspicion was likely to fall on the outlawed Baloch Liberation Army, an insurgent group seeking independence, or at least autonomy from Islamabad.
The BLA is classified as a terrorist organisation by Pakistan as well as the United States.
Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest but least populated province, is rich in oil and minerals, which the ethnic Baloch accuse the central government of exploiting to their detriment.
Islamabad denies allegations of shortchanging the local people or discriminating against them.
The attack in Naushki occurred just a day after a policeman was killed and six of his comrades injured in a blast in Quetta.
It also came a week after BLA gunmen hijacked the Jaffar Express train carrying over 400 passengers in the mountains of Balochistan.
The gunmen killed at least 21 passengers, many of them security personnel travelling home, before the military freed the train in an operation that left 33 assailants dead.
President Asif Ali Zardari and prime minister Shehbaz Sharif denounced the attack on the train and vowed to “bring the cowardly terrorists to their end”.
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