- Dead include five schoolchildren aged between five and 10 years: DPO
- Blast carried out with an IED attached to bike that was detonated near police mobile
- PM, Acting President CM Bugti condemn blast, calling targeting schoolchildren as ‘inhumane’
QUETTA/ISLAMABAD: Nine people, including five children, were killed in a bomb blast targeting a police van guarding polio vaccinators near a girls’ school in Mastung city on Friday, the police and administration confirmed.
“The blast left 29 others injured,” informed Mastung District Police Officer (DPO) Miandad Umrani and added that the blast occurred near a police van at the Civil Hospital Chowk.
According to the DPO, explosive material was placed in a motorcycle and was detonated via remote control.
The deceased children were aged between five and 10 years, DPO Umrani further said.
The DPO said that a police van and several auto-rickshaws were damaged as a result of the bomb.
Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfaraz Bugti condemned the blast, lamenting that terrorists had now started targeting innocent children along with poor labourers.
State broadcaster PTV News quoted Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif as saying that the explosion occurred at a “girls’ high school”, while another post by the outlet said the incident occurred “near Girls’ High School Chowk”.
On the other hand, Kalat Division Commissioner Naeem Bazai said that the attack took place at around 8:35am near the Mastung Civil Hospital, a few meters away from the hospital.
Bazai said that initially seven people, including five schoolchildren, were killed while 17 others sustained injuries in the blast. He added that the blast was apparently carried out with the help of an improvised explosive device (IED) attached to a motorcycle that was detonated near a police mobile.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the blast.
Later in the day, Mastung Deputy Commissioner Capt (r) Baz Muhammad Marri said that the death toll from the Mastung blast had risen to nine.
“Among the deceased are five girls, one boy, one police officer, and two other civilians,” he said. “The bodies have been transferred to Civil Hospital Mastung, Nawab Ghaus Bakhsh Memorial Hospital, and Civil Hospital Quetta, and were handed over to the families after necessary procedures.”
Meanwhile, Dr Wasim Baig, the spokesman of the provincial health department, said that reports from different hospitals suggested a total of 29 people sustained injuries in the blast.
The deputy commissioner and assistant commissioner were overseeing the situation at the hospitals, Bazai said. He highlighted that the police have cordoned off the area to prevent any further incidents.
‘Polio team not targeted’
Some media outlets reported that a polio team was the target of the attack.
“Terrorists targeted our police van which was guarding a polio team in the Civil Hospital Chowk area,” Rahmatullah, a local police officer, told Anadolu Agency over the phone.
He added that members of the vaccination team remained unhurt, however, one policeman was killed and four others were injured in the attack.
Reuters, quoting the same official, also reported that a police van on its way to pick up a polio team was targeted, adding that as a result of the attack, one policeman was killed while 23 others were injured.
Deputy Commissioner Mastung Marri, however, refuted the claims.
“Terrorists attacked a police van near Civil Hospital, where the police mobile was patrolling when the attack occurred,” he said. “Security has been deployed at various locations in Mastung to protect polio teams, but the police van targeted was not assigned to polio team security.”
‘Inhumane’ act
CM Bugti said terrorists had now “targeted innocent children along with poor labourers”, apparently referring to a recent attack that killed five security guards in Panjgur.
In a statement on X, the chief minister condemned the blast, saying it was “inhumane”.
CM Bugti said terrorists had targeted children deeming them to be a “soft target”.
“We will avenge the murder of innocent children and people,” CM said, adding that civilians in urban areas also needed to be on the watch for the terrorists.
“The monster of terrorism can only be fought together,” he added.
PM Shehbaz and Acting President Yusuf Raza Gilani also condemned the “bomb blast at a Girls’ High School in Mastung”, state-run Radio Pakistan reported.
In their separate statements, they expressed deep grief over the death of children and a policeman in the incident, conveying their condolences to the bereaved families.
Gilani reiterated the resolve to root out terrorism from the country, asserting that terrorists were humanity’s enemies.
The “entire nation stands united to support the security forces and law enforcement agencies to eliminate terrorism”, he was quoted as saying.
PM Shehbaz said the “attack on a school was loud evidence of terrorists’ animosity towards education in Balochistan”.
He asserted such “cowardly acts of terrorists” could neither undermine the nation’s morale nor shake the Balochistan government’s unwavering resolve to promote education and development in the province.
The premier, the statement said, directed the authorities concerned to apprehend the perpetrators of the blast and give them an exemplary punishment.
He also instructed that the best medical treatment facilities be provided to the injured.
The country has seen a sharp uptick in terrorism-related incidents over the last few months, particularly the Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces.
Last month, terrorists armed with automatic weapons stormed an under-construction house in Panjgur, killing seven labourers hailing from Multan.
