In a recent and alarming development, Pakistan has once again accused India of waging a covert war through state-sponsored terrorism—this time in the tragic attack on a school bus in Khuzdar, Balochistan, on May 21, 2025. The blast killed at least six individuals, including three schoolchildren, and left over 40 others injured, most of them also children. The attack has not only reignited tensions between Islamabad and New Delhi but has also exposed the vulnerability of Pakistan’s soft targets, such as schools, to external sabotage.
At a press briefing in Islamabad, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, accompanied by Interior Secretary Captain (retd) Khurram Muhammad Agha, laid out a detailed account of what Pakistan alleges to be India’s long-standing policy of destabilizing its western neighbor. Lt Gen Chaudhry emphasized that the attack in Khuzdar was not rooted in any local ethnic grievances but was orchestrated and funded by Indian intelligence services, specifically the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).
“This attack had nothing to do with Baloch identity. It was India’s provocation, executed through its terror proxies,” Chaudhry said.
He also recalled similar patterns in recent years, notably the October 2024 attempt on the Chinese envoy in Karachi and the March 2025 hijacking of the Jaffar Express by the banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA). In both cases, he claimed Indian-affiliated social media accounts had signaled attacks in advance, revealing a coordinated disinformation and destabilization campaign.
The ISPR chief further noted that Indian media celebrated the Khuzdar incident—a claim that paints a disturbing picture of how normalized violence against Pakistani civilians has become within Indian strategic discourse.
Interior Secretary Agha echoed the army’s concerns. “This was not merely an attack on a bus. It was an attack on Pakistan’s future, our education system, and our values,” he said. Offering condolences to the bereaved families, Agha confirmed that preliminary investigations directly tied the Khuzdar attack to India-sponsored entities, particularly the network Islamabad has dubbed Fitnah al Hindustan, a collective label for terror outfits operating under Indian guidance.
He also mentioned a failed Indian operation—Operation Sindoor—as a strategic backdrop to the intensifying wave of attacks on soft targets in Pakistan, particularly in Balochistan. According to him, India’s proxies have now shifted tactics, targeting civilians and infrastructure to suggest a breakdown of state control. Yet, he asserted that “Pakistan will not allow these designs to succeed.”
A disturbing element in the ISPR briefing was the confession of former militants, including women like Adeela Baloch, who surrendered after realizing they were pawns in India’s proxy war. According to Chaudhry, Adeela had been blackmailed into becoming a suicide bomber. Her testimony, he said, is one of many implicating Indian agencies in exploiting vulnerable youth for terror operations.
The narrative of Indian escalation was further compounded by references to military skirmishes on May 6 and 7, which Pakistan says were unprovoked responses to the April Pahalgam incident in Indian-occupied Kashmir. “Instead of resolving their internal oppression in Kashmir, India externalizes its issues through military aggression and terrorism,” said Chaudhry.
Pakistan also condemned the role of the Indian media, accusing it of acting as an instrument of the state rather than an independent entity. “Those who raise questions about media freedom in Pakistan should look at India,” Chaudhry stated, implying that Indian journalism is complicit in manufacturing public consent for state violence.
In a broader historical context, Lt Gen Chaudhry reiterated that India has used terrorism as a tool since Pakistan’s creation. From the 2009 evidence dossier handed to the Indian Prime Minister to the 2016 arrest of Indian naval officer Kulbushan Jadhav in Balochistan, the ISPR claims to have repeatedly demonstrated India’s hand in terrorist operations.
Referring to the present moment, Chaudhry argued that Pakistan is acting as a rational state. “We will not respond with irrational violence. Our approach is holistic, involving military operations, diplomatic engagement, and socioeconomic development.” He noted that over 93,000 counterterrorism operations had been conducted across Pakistan in the past 18 months, with significant gains in Balochistan, including the killing of over 200 militants this year alone.
Significantly, Pakistan is now also clamping down on illegal trade routes and deporting undocumented Afghans, steps believed to be critical in dismantling the financing and logistical support systems of terror networks.
A harsh rebuke was also directed at the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) and its leadership, especially Dr. Mahrang Baloch. “Their space has been squeezed,” said Chaudhry, accusing the group of serving foreign agendas under the guise of local activism.
The ISPR chief concluded by reaffirming the State’s unwavering stance: “This is not a war of the Baloch people. It is a war against Indian terror proxies. We are united. We are determined. And we will prevail.”
In summary, Pakistan’s civil and military leadership is signaling a coordinated and assertive counterstrategy to what it claims is India’s multi-layered campaign of hybrid warfare. Whether this escalates into a broader geopolitical confrontation or catalyzes international mediation remains to be seen, but one thing is clear—Islamabad is not backing down.
