Militancy: Girls school blown up in Bannu

PESHAWAR: A government-run girls primary school was set off with explosives planted by unidentified militants within the building in Zalim Kalan on Sunday.

“I was sleeping in my house when the sound of the explosion reached me at 2: 35am after which I informed the police mobile to come,” said Amir Muhammad Rukhsar Khan, an official of the Mandan police. Khan added that the police van picked him from his house after which he reached the blast site in his village.

They found that the boundary wall had been completely destroyed as well as two out of three classrooms. The gate was also pulled out due to the impact of the explosion. Khan said the bomb disposal squad could not reach at night so they visited the site in the morning. Their investigation revealed that 4.5 kilogrammes of explosives were placed in a plastic canister which exploded. The watchman of the school had also been on leave since two weeks. A case has been filed against unidentified militants.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 1^st, 2013.