QUETTA: At least eight people, including five schoolchildren and a policeman, were martyred and over 30 injured in a bomb blast near a girl’s school and a hospital in Mastung town, some 50km south-east of Quetta, on Friday.

Officials said the target of the remote-controlled blast was a police vehicle heading to Mastung district hospital to pick up polio vaccinators to escort them to different neighbourhoods as part of the nationwide immunisation drive being run from Oct 28 to Nov 3.

An improvised explosive device (IED) planted in a motorbike was used to carry out the attack at School-Hospital Chowk in the Majeed Road area, officials said.

The IED was detonated close to the school where students were coming in vans and rickshaws at a time when the police vehicle was passing through the area. While one cop was martyred, as many as five students also embraced martyrdom at the blast site.

One cop, two civilians among victims; IED targeted police party on its way to pick up polio team; state functionaries condemn cowardly attack

“Dead children included two brothers and a girl and her younger brother who were going to school in the school van.”

No one has claimed responsibility for the blast.

SSP Mastung Rehmatullah later confirmed to Dawn that the IED was detonated with a remote control. He said it was planted in a motorcycle, parked at School-Hospital Chowk to target the police vehicle which was going to district hospital to escort polio team.

Soon after the blast, Mastung Deputy Commissioner Baz Khan Mari along with senior police officers rushed to the explosion site. The area was cordoned off and the bodies were shifted to Nawab Ghous Bakhsh Raisani Memorial Hospital and DHQ hospital.

“We have received three bodies and another 30 injured,” the hospital spokesman initially said, adding that three more injured, including a police official, died.

Eleven victims, including five schoolchildren, who were seriously injured, were shifted to the trauma centre of the Civil Hospital, Quetta.

Officials at the Quetta hospital said they received 11 critically injured patients. Many have suffered multiple injuries. Dr Wasim Baig, spokesman for the civil hospital told Dawn that two of them died during treatment, while two others lost their lives in the trauma centre, pushing the death toll to eight.

He said four injured were shifted to CMH, Quetta.

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In all, officials said, over 30 injured were admitted to Quetta and Nawab Raisani Hospital.

Kalat Commissioner Naeem Bazai also confirmed to Dawn that eight people, including five children, were martyred in the blast. He said, “The blast took place at 8.42am when children were on their way to school.”

The school van, a rickshaw and some other vehicles were badly damaged in the blast while windowpanes of nearby buildings, including girls’ school, district hospital and shops were shattered by the impact of the powerful bombing that rocked the entire town.

Eight people including children who were martyred in the blast were identified as schoolchildren Habibullah, Samiullah, Saifullah, Khairunnisa and Amir Hamza, police official Hafeezullah, and two civilians Hakim Ali and Nadeem.

The incident drew instant condemnation from acting President Yousuf Raza Gilani, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Sarfaraz Bugti and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, while fateha for the departed souls was also offered in the National Assembly.

In separate statements, the acting president and prime minister expressed grief over the deaths and conveyed their condolence to the bereaved families. They renewed their resolve to eliminate terrorism. “Terrorists are the enemies of humanity. The whole nation stands united to support the security forces and law enforcement agencies against terrorists,” Mr Gilani said.

PM Shehbaz instructed the authorities to apprehend the perpetrators of the blast and take them to task, besides directing the best possible medical treatment of the injured.

“The attack on a school is the manifestation of terrorists’ animosity to education in Balochistan. Such cowardly acts can neither undermine the nation’s morale nor that of Balochistan’s government to promote education and development. The whole nation feels proud of its policemen and soldiers for their sacrifices to safeguard the country,” he remarked.

CM Bugti expressed deep sorrow and grief over the attack targeting innocent children and said that such attacks only strengthened government’s resolve to eliminate terrorism. The cowardly acts could not disrupt educational progress, he said while speaking at a laptop distribution ceremony at Government Girls Postgraduate Degree College, Quetta.

“We will provide promising students from Balochistan with opportunities to study at esteemed institutions worldwide,” he said and announced several initiatives, including a high-tech lab at the college, 50 scooters for female students, and merit-based award of additional laptops.

He called for unity among students in rejecting terrorism and warned of attempts by external forces to mislead Baloch youth through propaganda.

The CM expressed hope for a bright future for female students in Balochistan, noting that currently, five deputy commissioners and one assistant commissioner in the province are women who have proven to be effective administrators. He said he believed one day Balochistan would have a female chief minister.

‘No leniency’

While denouncing the incident, Interior Minister Naqvi shared his heartfelt condolences, saying that no words were enough to condemn the incident of targeting innocent children.

He described the attack as an “act of brutality”, adding that “targeting children is a heinous crime that no one should tolerate.”

The minister made it clear that those responsible for such horrific acts would not face any leniency.

“The beasts who play with the lives of innocent children do not deserve any compassion,” he stated, expressing government’s commitment to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Meanwhile, Unicef condemned the tragic attack in Mastung, calling for an end to this senseless violence and emphasising the need for ensuring the safety and protection of all children.

In a statement issued in Islamabad on Friday, the UN agency expressed heartfelt condolences to the families affected by this horrific event and wished a swift recovery to the injured.

NA offers fateha

Also, the National Assembly offered Fateha for victims of the Mastung bombing, a gun attack at the Panjgur dam site and for the personnel who lost their lives in a security operation in Bannu’s Bakka Khel area.

Led by Ali Muhammad Khan, the lower house of parliament also offered fateha for deceased family members of lawmakers, including MNA Mehtab Ghauri’s brother, Mian Iftikhar, Barrister Gohar’s aunt, and former governor Shah Farman’s father.

Amin Ahmed in Islamabad also contributed to this report

Published in Dawn, November 2nd, 2024