5 killed, several injured in school bus attack in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD -- Five people, including three students, were killed and several others injured when terrorists attacked a school bus in Pakistan's Khuzdar district of southwestern Balochistan province on Wednesday, the Pakistani military said.

In a statement, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Pakistani military, condemned the terrorist attack on "the innocent school-going children's bus," vowing to hunt down the "planners, abettors and executors" of the attack and bring them to justice.

Talking to Xinhua, Khuzdar Deputy Commissioner Yasir Iqbal Dashti said that at least five people were killed and 40 others injured, including students and staff members, after a suicide bomber detonated his explosive-laden vehicle near the school bus in zero point area of the district.

Eyewitnesses in the area told Xinhua that the bus was completely destroyed after the powerful explosion.

Following the explosion, rescue teams and law enforcement agencies reached the scene and shifted the injured to nearby hospitals. Authorities have launched an investigation into the incident after cordoning off the area.

Taking notice of the incident, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif strongly condemned the bombing targeting the school bus.

"No efforts will be spared to thwart the nefarious intentions of terrorists to disrupt the peace of Balochistan," the prime minister said.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet.