India has vehemently denied Pakistan's accusations of involvement in a bomb attack on a school bus in Balochistan's Khuzdar region, calling the allegations "baseless." The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) stated that Pakistan consistently blames India for its internal issues to deflect attention from its reputation as a global terrorism hub. The MEA spokesperson, Randhir Jaiswal, asserted that this attempt to deceive the world will ultimately fail. The suicide attack resulted in the tragic deaths of five people, including three children, and left several others injured. While India expressed condolences for the loss of life, it firmly rejected Pakistan's claims. The MEA highlighted Pakistan's tendency to scapegoat India for its internal problems, a tactic aimed at obscuring its own failings in combating terrorism. The blast, reportedly carried out through a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED), was condemned by Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who expressed deep sorrow over the deaths of innocent children and teachers.
Pakistani security forces have killed at least 17 militants in Balochistan province following a deadly train attack last week, the army said.
A female suicide bomber, allegedly trained by the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), has been arrested in Pakistan, highlighting the group's tactics of brainwashing young individuals for terror attacks.
Multiple terror attacks in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province during Ramazan have resulted in the deaths of security personnel, while security forces in Balochistan have killed several rebels in response.
Residents of Zehri tehsil in Khuzdar district have accused the Pakistani military of carrying out indiscriminate air and drone strikes that have killed civilians, including women and children, amid a siege that has continued for over a month.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) strongly condemned the Pahalgam terror attack and concurred with India's position that 'double standards' in the fight against terrorism are unacceptable.
'For the region and for the world, the US working with both those nations is good news.'
Pakistan's restive Balochistan province has come to a standstill and has been facing unrest with several political and nationalist parties launching an indefinite blockade of all national highways from Wednesday against alleged rigging of the election results.
"We estimate that Pakistan now has a nuclear weapons stockpile of approximately 170 warheads. The US Defense Intelligence Agency projected in 1999 that Pakistan would have 60 to 80 warheads by 2020, but several new weapon systems have been fielded and developed since then, which leads us to a higher estimate," the Nuclear Notebook column published in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists on September 11 said.
Five cases, including that of sedition, have been registered against three top Baloch nationalist leaders in Pakistan for allegedly backing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's supportive words on Balochistan in his Independence Day speech.
Two commandos of the special forces were also killed in the rescue operation that was launched after negotiations between the government and the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan militants to end the hostage crisis failed.
The death toll is feared to rise with women and children casualties in the deadly blast.
At least 80 people have been killed so far in the quake that struck Awaran district in Balochistan province on Tuesday, according to a spokesperson of Frontier Corps, Balochistan.
Thirty-two people were killed and dozens injured when a major 7.7-magnitude earthquake hit southwestern Pakistan on Tuesday, with most damage and casualties reported near the epicentre in Balochistan.
No group claimed responsibility for the attack but the Taliban usually target shrines as they consider it un-Islamic.
At least 15 people were killed on Saturday when a powerful 7.2-magnitude aftershock struck areas of southwest Pakistan devastated by a massive earthquake that claimed over 500 lives earlier this week.
Protesting against enforced disappearances in Balochistan, Abdul Qadeer Baloch, 72, has led a small group that has covered more than 2,000 kilometres on foot, breaking the 84-year-old record set by Mahatma Gandhi during his Dandi march. Hamid Mir reports from Islamabad.
