Heartrending: ‘Toy bomb’ takes life of one schoolchild in K-P

Militants threw a grenade suspected to have been concealed as a toy into a school.

PESHAWAR: A six year old student was killed, while another one was injured when unidentified miscreants threw a hand grenade into a school in the Chargo Kalay area of Peshawar on Monday.

According to police officials, militants threw the grenade at a private school in the area, which led to the death of six-year-old Ali while another named Waqarullah sustained serious injuries.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DPS) Riazul Islam said that the attack aimed to create panic among the locals.

“It was a hand grenade explosion,” said Islam.

“However, we do suspect that it was concealed in a toy. When thrown into the school, the children started playing with it which led to the blast,” explained Islam, adding that vital evidence was still being gathered from the site of the explosion.

According to a resident Salamat, the parents were waiting to pick up their kids from the school after classes had finished, when the blast occurred.

“When I rushed inside, I saw children screaming. One of the kids lay on the ground, while another one was seriously injured,” asserted Salamat.

“It was very difficult to identify the wounded since many kids were crying,” added Salamat.

Militants have been active in the area for a while now. Targeting tribal elders is common in the area as well.