CHARSADDA: A hoax about a militant attack on a school here on Tuesday panicked people and prompted security guards of the school to allegedly fire shots at a student who was reportedly scaling a rear wall of the building to flee.

After the reports about attack on Government Omar Hayat Shaheed Higher Secondary School No 1, Charsadda, police and parents rushed to the school, wielding guns .

The local administration also put doctors at the district headquarters hospital, Charsadda, on alert soon after the firing incident.

Witnesses said several rounds were fired when classes were in progress at the school, adding a student identified as Shahab started running around in injured condition. They said the student was crying that militants had attacked the school. Personnel from the nearby police station rushed to the school when they heard gunshots, and also fired some rounds.

The student’s father claimed two persons attacked his son near the school toilets, while the school’s administration claimed the student was scaling a wall in the school’s backyard to flee.

According to the officials, the student got stuck in the barbed wire when he attempted to scale the wall, as a result, he received minor injuries. The student was discharged from hospital after receiving first aid.

Assistant commissioner Noor Wali Khan said an inquiry would be conducted into the incident.

Published in Dawn, February 10th, 2016