MOHMAND/NORTH WAZIR­ISTAN: At least eight suspected militants were killed and four others injured in two drone strikes carried out by the security forces in Mohmand district, while a school was blown up by unidentified militants in North Waziristan’s Mir Ali tehsil on Wednesday night.

The drone strikes occurred at night on December 10, targeting Alingar, a remote village of Mohmand district near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. No police posts or government installations are present in the area.

However, a police official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that the intelligence-based operation involved two separate drone attacks that killed over eight militants.

“The strikes were precise and aimed at a gathering of militants,” the source said, adding that surveillance and verification efforts were ongoing to ascertain the exact number of casualties and identities of those killed.

Primary school blown up in Mir Ali; major portion of building destroyed

The area remains under heightened security, with forces conducting searches to prevent any retaliatory actions.

There was no official word, either from the district administration or Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), about the incident.

School blown up

Separately, in North Waziristan, unidentified attackers blew up a government primary school in the Khushali area in Mir Ali, putting the education of more than 600 children in jeopardy and spreading fear across the locality.

Officials said that unknown attackers had planted explosives inside the school building and detonated them at night.

The blast, which was heard miles away, destroyed a significant portion of the school building.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far.

Education department officials confirmed that more than 600 students were enrolled in the institution, which served as the only functional primary school in the area.

Authorities said the remaining sections of the building had been cordoned off, while an emergency plan for alternate learning arrangements was under consideration.

Local elders and parents expressed deep concern, calling attacks on educational institutions “a direct assault on the future of children”.

“This school was the only beacon of hope for our children. Its destruction has shocked the entire community,” an area elder said.

The incident comes weeks after Cadet College Wana in the Lower South Waziristan district came under a terrorist attack.

In October, an explosion at a girls’ primary school in Lakki Marwat partially damaged the building.

Last year in May, a private girls’ school was blown up by unidentified militants in Shewa tehsil of North Waziristan district.

Published in Dawn, December 12th, 2025