Bomb blast on school bus in Pakistan: seven dead, including five children

The explosion occurred early Friday in Mastung, in the southwest province of Balochistan, while school buses were transporting children, local police told DPA.

“A bomb attack took place near a police vehicle in the central market of Mastung killing seven people, a police officer, five children and a trader,” officer Abdul Fatah told AFP. . “This vehicle was carrying personnel responsible for protecting the anti-polio campaign,” added officer Rahmat Ullah.

The bomb was carried on a moped, police said, which was parked near a girls' school. The target was a police vehicle but the explosion hit a school bus, a spokesperson for the provincial authority told DPA.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the attack.

Mastung is a stronghold of Islamist militias comprising various Sunni groups such as the Islamic State and the Pakistani Taliban. Balochistan is located on the border of Afghanistan and Iran, and is the poorest province of Pakistan.