KARACHI: Pakistan urged the international community on Wednesday to condemn what it called India’s use of “terrorism” as a foreign policy tool, after a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device targeted a school bus in the southwestern Balochistan province, killing at least three children and injuring 39 others, including eight critically.

Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest province by landmass and rich in mineral resources, has long faced an insurgency led by separatist groups who accuse Islamabad of exploiting local resources while neglecting the population. The government denies the claims, citing investments in health, education and infrastructure.

In recent months, the insurgency has intensified, with groups like the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) carrying out high-casualty attacks on civilians and security forces, including taking hostages at a passenger train. Pakistan says it has evidence linking India to these attacks, though New Delhi has denied involvement and distanced itself from the Khuzdar school bombing.

However, Islamabad described the attack as a “sequel” to India’s missile and drone strikes earlier this month, accusing New Delhi of deploying militant proxies to destabilize the country, as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir visited the region to meet injured children in hospital.

“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 honor and values of the Baloch and Pashtun people, who have long rejected violence and extremism,” said a statement issued by the PM Office after Sharif’s visit to Quetta.

“India’s reliance on such morally indefensible tactics, particularly the deliberate targeting of children, demands urgent attention from the international community,” it added. “The use of terrorism as a tool of foreign policy must be unequivocally condemned and confronted.”

The prime minister and the accompanying delegation was briefed by Balochistan’s Chief Minister Sardar Sarfraz Bugti and local military officials on the attack, which also killed two soldiers and injured 53 people in total.

The official statement said Pakistan’s security forces and law enforcement agencies “will relentlessly pursue all those involved in this barbaric act,” vowing to bring “the architects, abettors and enablers of this crime” to justice.

It added the incident had exposed India’s “cunning role” to the world, revealing how it orchestrated militant violence while simultaneously portraying itself as a victim.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs earlier in the day rejected Pakistan’s allegations, describing them as Islamabad’s attempt to deflect responsibility for its own failings and internal issues.

The latest attack follows a brief military standoff between the two countries earlier this month, which ended in a ceasefire on May 10.

While hostilities along the border have subsided, both sides continue to trade diplomatic barbs, accusing each other of sponsoring terrorism and destabilizing the region.

The attack in Khuzdar, which targeted children en route to an army-run school, was condemned by US Chargé d’Affaires Natalie Baker and UNICEF in separate statements.

It was also reminiscent of one of the deadliest militant attacks in Pakistan’s history when over 130 children were killed in a military school in the northern city of Peshawar in 2014. That attack was claimed by the Pakistani Taliban group.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s health minister Syed Mustafa Kamal informed his Palestinian counterpart that a framework has been developed to provide medical assistance to the people of Gaza, according to an official statement on Wednesday, during a meeting on the sidelines of the 78th World Health Assembly in Switzerland.

Kamal’s meeting with the Palestinian health minister, Dr. Maged Awni Muhammad Abu Ramadan, took place at a time when Israeli forces have repeatedly targeted hospitals and health facilities in Gaza, crippling the enclave’s health care system.

Israeli attacks have also led to international concern over violations of humanitarian norms in the war-torn Palestinian territory.

“We stand with our Palestinian brothers and will provide all possible medical support to heal their wounds,” the health ministry quoted Kamal as saying.

He strongly condemned Israel’s targeting of hospitals and health care workers, urging the international community to take concrete action to end the atrocities against Palestinians, including women and children.

“The brutality and oppression must stop,” he was quoted as saying. “The world must hold Israel accountable.”

Earlier this week, Pakistan condemned Israel’s targeting of hospitals in Gaza and described its announcement of taking control of the entire Palestinian territory as a “grave threat” to regional peace.

The remarks by the Pakistani foreign office came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared his government wanted to take control of the Gaza Strip.