Militants blow up rebuilt school in Bajaur

Published September 9, 2014
Local residents look at the damaged classroom of a girls school, wrecked by Taliban militants on the outskirt of Peshawar, Pakistan on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2009.    — File photo by AP
Local residents look at the damaged classroom of a girls school, wrecked by Taliban militants on the outskirt of Peshawar, Pakistan on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2009. — File photo by AP

KHAR: Suspected militants blew up a government girls’ primary school in the border area in Nawagai tehsil early on Monday, officials and local people said.

They said that the incident took place in Kamangra locality, 33 kilometers northwest of Khar.

They added that a group of unidentified miscreants entered the newly reconstructed building of the school and planted a number of explosive devices in it.

The local people said the explosives went off with a bang, razing the building to ground, but fortunately no one was hurt as the building was empty when the blast struck.

The outlawed Tahreek-i-Taliban Pakistan accepted the responsibility for the bombing.

TTP spokesman Shahidullah Shahid told mediapersons on phone from an unspecified location that attacks on government installations, pro-government tribesmen and security forces would continue. “We carried out the bombing and we will continue attacks on educational institutions all over the tribal areas,” he added.

Local people and volunteers of village defence committee reached the spot soon after the explosion and cordoned off the area, but miscreants managed to escape the scene.

A local administration official said that the school building was completely destroyed in the explosion. He disclosed that the same school was also destroyed by militants in 2010 and was recently reconstructed.

The official said the administration launched an investigation to know why the watchman was absent when the militants entered the building. — Correspondent

Published in Dawn, September 09th, 2014

Opinion

Editorial

Green tokenism
Updated 08 Jul, 2025

Green tokenism

Climate decisions must be based on facts, not politics — guided by independent science and open to public scrutiny.
Cotton decline
08 Jul, 2025

Cotton decline

PAKISTAN’S cotton economy is in a crisis. Production has fallen from a peak of 14m bales 10 years ago to 5.5m ...
Pet problems
08 Jul, 2025

Pet problems

PAKISTANIS’ obsession with exotic pets keeps ending in tragedy. Incidents like the recent lion attack in a Lahore...
No preparedness
Updated 06 Jul, 2025

No preparedness

With frequency of calamitous weather events increasing, the country cannot afford to be in denial after every tragedy.
Saarc’s future
Updated 07 Jul, 2025

Saarc’s future

South Asia’s vast potential cannot be held hostage forever by India.
PSB’s waning authority
06 Jul, 2025

PSB’s waning authority

IT has been two decades since the National Sports Policy was introduced but its implementation leaves much to be...