QUETTA (Kashmir English): Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and COAS Field Marshal Asim Munir vowed to display a very strong resolve to bring the fight against foreign-sponsored terrorism to its logical and decisive end.
During their visit to Quetta, following a tragic Khuzdar school bus attack, which resulted in five casualties, including three children, the prime minister reaffirmed that it’s now time to show national resolve against terrorism, similar to the one shown recently against the aggression by India.
The premier, army chief, defense minister, and other senior civil and military leadership visited Quetta to meet the injured children and other victims of the horrific school bus attack.
As per the statement issued from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the Prime Minister expressed that the entire nation stands resolute behind its Armed Forces and Law Enforcement Agencies in the collective will to eradicate the scourge of terrorism as well as safeguard the sovereignty and security of Pakistan.
On this occasion, Chief Minister Balochistan and Commander Quetta Corps briefed the visitors about the “dastardly incident which led to the martyrdom of three innocent children and two soldiers,” along with 53 injured, including 39 innocent children, of whom 8 are critical.
Earlier, Chief Minister Bugti told reporters that the critically injured were being transported via air to the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) Quetta.
The Prime Minister, Federal Ministers, and Chief of Army Staff expressed deep grief over the loss of innocent lives and injuries to the innocent school-going children.
Quetta: Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif visited Quetta to meet the injured children and other victims of horrific attack on a school bus in Khuzdar, on 21 May 2025.@CMShehbaz pic.twitter.com/LhZ9RLbuIt
— PTV News (@PTVNewsOfficial) May 21, 2025
The PMO, in a statement, said that the reprehensible and cowardly attack was orchestrated by “state-sponsored proxies (Fitna Al Hindustan) of India, which the world has largely come to know as an epicentre of instability in the region”.
“Sequel to gross failure to intimidate Pakistan through overt military means, dastardly terrorist incidents are being orchestrated through their proxies at an intensified scale in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, deliberately targeting civilians in a futile attempt to destabilize Pakistan,” it added.
The prime minister and other visitors, seeing the badly wounded and critically injured children, expressed that such a diabolical act of terrorism through these Indian sponsored proxies is a “shameful and despicable act”.
“These terrorist groups — masquerading under ethnic pretenses — are not only being exploited by India as instruments of state policy, but also stand as a stain on the honour and values of the Baloch and Pashtun people, who have long rejected violence and extremism.”
The statement further demanded urgent attention from the international community on “India’s reliance on such morally indefensible tactics, particularly the deliberate targeting of children”.
The use of terrorism as a tool of foreign policy must be unequivocally condemned and confronted, the statement read, adding that “Pakistan’s security forces and law enforcement agencies will relentlessly pursue all those involved in this barbaric act.”
“The architects, abettors, and enablers of this crime will be held accountable and brought to justice, and the truth about India’s cunning role, a real perpetrator of terrorism but feigns as a victim, stands exposed before the world,” it added.
