TAXILA: Two girls were killed and five injured after gunmen opened fire at a school van in the Dheri Kot area of Attock on Thursday, according to eyewitnesses and police sources.
The pickup van was carrying students of a school run by a charity from Dheri Kot village to Surg in the foothills of Kalla Chitta range when two persons riding a motorcycle intercepted the vehicle and opened fire.
The assailants’ target was the van driver, Attock District Police Officer (DPO) Sardar Ghayas told reporters, adding that the motive behind the attack was an old enmity.
According to eyewitnesses, as attackers opened fire, the driver accelerated, and the bullets hit the children sitting in the rear of the vehicle.
The deceased children have been identified as Rameen Shafiq, 9 and Arwa Jamshaid, 10.
According to district emergency officer Ali Hasnian, five children aged between four and 12 and the driver were injured in the attack. They have been shifted to the District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital for treatment.
The injured were identified as Muhaib Ali, 8; Sumeria Bibi, 7; Shahzif Shafiq, 8; Haseeb Ali, 12; Shahzim Shabbir, 4; and Muhammad Afzal, 48.
DPO Gul, while talking to reporters outside the DHQ Hospital, ruled out terrorism as the motive behind the attack. He added that initial investigation suggested the gunmen, identified as Nasir and Nasim, targeted the van due to a personal enmity with the driver.
A case has been registered against the suspects and police are conducting raids to arrest them, he added.
A police spokesman also said human and digital intelligence is being used to trace the culprits.
While quoting the Attock police spokesman, Waseem Babar, AFP reported that the gunmen were embroiled in court cases with the family of the driver.
Attock Deputy Commissioner Rao Atif Raza assured the victims’ families of justice and hoped the culprits would be arrested soon.
Sheikh Aftab Ahmad, PML-N’s National Assembly member from Attock, also visited the injured students in the hospital.
“Firing on children in a school van is an act of brutality,” he said, adding that the attackers “deserve no leniency”.
Shock and sorrow
Meanwhile, a pall of gloom descended upon the Dheerikot area when the victims’ bodies were brought to their homes.
Mourners consoled Muhammad Shafiq, whose daughter lost her life and the son was injured. The victims’ last rites were performed at a local graveyard.
Condemnations
The president, prime minister and other political leaders have condemned the attack.
In his message, President Asif Ali Zardari said strict action must be taken against the attackers.
“Targeting innocent children is a cruel and shameful act,” he was quoted as saying in a statement from the President’s House.
He prayed for the deceased, as well as for the speedy recovery of the injured children.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also called the attack a “cruel and gruesome” act.
According to Radio Pakistan, the prime minister expressed solidarity with the bereaved families and prayed for the departed souls.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, Punjab Governor Sardar Saleem Haider and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari also condemned the attack.
Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz sought a report on the provincial police chief, according to a statement issued by her public relations officer.
She expressed deep grief over the death of the two students and directed the authorities to provide the best treatment facilities to the injured.
Published in Dawn, August 23rd, 2024
