Five killed in school bus bombing in Pakistan

At least five people were killed and several others injured on Wednesday when a roadside bomb struck a school bus in Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province, officials confirmed.

The device exploded as the bus traveled along a main highway connecting Khuzdar district to Karachi, according to District Commissioner Yasir Iqbal.

Initial reports from local authorities stated that five schoolchildren were killed. However, the Pakistan Army later clarified that the fatalities included three schoolchildren and two adults, with multiple others injured.

Around 40 students were on board the bus at the time of the blast, and most are reported to have sustained injuries. Emergency services responded quickly, transporting the wounded to nearby hospitals.

“An investigation is underway to determine the nature of the explosion and identify those responsible,” said DC Iqbal.

Pakistan blames Indian proxies

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far. However, Pakistan’s military accused India and its proxies in Balochistan of orchestrating the bombing.

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“After having miserably failed on the battlefield, Indian proxies have been unleashed to spread terror and unrest in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa through such heinous and cowardly acts,” the military’s media wing, ISPR, said in a statement.

India's foreign ministry rejected Pakistan's accusations of Indian involvement.

"In order to divert attention from its reputation as the global epicenter of terrorism and to hide its own gross failings, it has become second nature for Pakistan to blame India for all its internal issues," India's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a statement.

Emergency officials reach blast siteNukta/officials

Tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbors are high after they struck a ceasefire on May 10 that diplomats have warned is fragile, following the most intense military action in decades in a conflict analysts and officials feared could spiral out of control.

Both countries accuse the other of supporting militancy on each other's soil - a charge both capitals deny.

Balochistan is Pakistan's largest province by area, but smallest by population. The province of some 15 million people in the southwest of the country is home to key mining projects but has been roiled by a decades-old insurgency.

Wednesday's attack was reminiscent of one of the deadliest militant attacks in Pakistan's history when an attack on a military school in the northern city of Peshawar in 2014 killed more than 130 children. It was claimed by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a banned terrorist organization.

2 policemen killed in attack in KP

Two policemen were killed and another injured when motorcycle-borne assailants attacked a police checkpoint near the New Sabzi Mandi area in Bannu district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, police officials told Nukta.

At least seven militants used explosives to blow up the checkpoint’s main gate before storming the premises, triggering a fierce exchange of gunfire with security personnel.

The TTP has claimed responsibility for the attack.

*With input from Reuters