Pakistan: Five schoolchildren among seven killed in blast in Balochistan

Seven people including five schoolchildren and a policeman were killed while 17 others were injured on Friday in a remotecontrolled blast targeting a police van in Pakistans restive Balochistan provinceThe blast occurred at 835 am near a girls high school at the Civil Hospital Chowk of the Mastung district of the provinceTerrorists used a remote control device to detonate explosive material hidden in a parked motorbike officials saidIt was an IED improvised explosive device used in the blast and the target apparently was a police mobile parked near the school Kalat Division Commissioner Naeem Bazai saidThe IED detonated when the police mobile came close to it and a school van was caught in the mayhem The police van and several autorickshaws were also damaged in the explosionThe blast was so powerful that schoolchildren who were going to the school at that time were hit by the explosion Bazai addedMastung District Police Officer DPO Miandad Umrani confirmed that five schoolchildren one police official and a civilian were killed in the blastThe 17 injured including schoolchildren between the ages of eight and 13 as well as policemen were shifted to various hospitals in the provinceThose with the most serious injuries were taken to the capital Quetta for treatment According to DPO Umrani 11 people were moved to the Quetta Trauma Centre for treatmentTV footage after the attack showed policemen and other people surrounding a charred vehicleNo group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet but ethnic Baloch terrorists and Taliban terrorists often attack the security forces in the province which has been facing a lowlevel insurgency for about two decades nowMeanwhile Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfaraz Bugti took to X to condemn the blast calling it ldquoinhumanerdquoHe said terrorists had now ldquotargeted innocent children along with poor labourersrdquo in an apparent reference to a recent attack by unidentified gunmen at a dam construction site in the provinces Panjgur district which killed five workers and injured two othersldquoWe will avenge the murder of innocent children and peoplerdquo CM said adding that civilians in urban areas also needed to be on the watch for the terrorists ldquoThe monster of terrorism can only be fought togetherrdquo he said He added that terrorists had targeted children deeming them to be a ldquosoft targetrdquoIn the aftermath of the blast an emergency was declared across all Quetta hospitals Geo News reported quoting the provincial health department spokesperson adding that all doctors pharmacists staff nurses and other medical staff were summonedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever