Assailants torch exam papers in school

DI KHAN:

Unknown assailants ignited a blaze at a school in North Waziristan early Tuesday, according to police reports. Approximately 10 to 15 individuals, yet to be identified, breached the school premises by scaling its walls, where they subdued the watchmen and proceeded to ignite solved exam papers using incendiary materials.

These papers had been collected from 23 examination centers under the Bannu Education Board.

Authorities confirmed that the fire was indeed ignited by the use of incendiary materials. Following the conflagration, the perpetrators swiftly departed the scene without encountering any resistance.

However, it was reported that matriculation question papers, stored nearby, were promptly secured and moved to a safe location in the aftermath of the incident.

Earlier in December, unidentified miscreants set ablaze school furniture valued at millions of rupees in a girls’ school located in the Bannu district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

Police told The Express Tribune that armed men discreetly entered the Government Higher Secondary School Mambati in Miryan Tehsil of Bannu, where they not only ignited the furniture and other equipment but also made off with solar panels and a pressure pump before making a successful escape.

An official from the local police station described the severity of the incident, stating, “Armed men entered the school and set ablaze the science room in the girls’ higher secondary school, reducing furniture and laboratory equipment worth millions of rupees to ashes.” Additionally, the assailants left threatening sentences inscribed on the school’s main gate, claiming affiliation with the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and warning the school’s owner to shut it down, or face complete destruction in the future.

The menacing slogans induced widespread panic among the students and their parents, as the school caters to 350 girls and is considered the largest education facility of its kind in the entire locality.

It may be mentioned here that North and South Waziristan are among the worst hit tribal districts where militancy has been on the rise despite all the efforts by law enforcement agencies.

Published in The Express Tribune May 1^st, 2024.