Security reasons: Schools in Peshawar closed over threat of possible attack

Panic increased when news of the threat was aired on some TV channels

PESHAWAR: Panic gripped the city as schools in some areas, including Cantonment, were closed on Saturday due to a possible security threat. As a result, parents and students were most concerned over the situation.

All private and public sector schools in the Cantonment area of Nauthia and on Warsak Road were closed. When the children reached their institutes, they were asked to return home for security reasons. The development was neither announced through the media nor was a formal notification issued.



Panic spread further as the news was aired on some TV channels. Roads leading to Cantonment area were also blocked as part of the security measures.

While speaking to The Express Tribune, a teacher of a school on Warsak Road said they had been receiving continuous phone calls by parents who enquired about the closure.

One of the parents, Shabir Jan, told The Express Tribune that he rushed to a school in Saddar to pick up his two children when he heard
the news.

When contacted, the district education officer in Peshawar said they followed orders of the administration and instructed the heads of both government and private schools to close their respective institutions. Meanwhile, District Assistant Commissioner Altaf Khan said security agencies and officials informed the DC that terrorists might launch an attack similar to the Army Public School massacre.



He added the institutes were closed with the mutual consent of the provincial government, education department and heads of the schools.

In a statement, K-P government spokesperson Mushtaq Ghani said schools were closed so that law-enforcement agencies could review security situation at the schools.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 17^th, 2016.