Targeting education: 93rd school blown up in Orakzai
Nearly 58 schools have been destroyed in the lower districts of the Agency.
KALAYA:
A government primary school for girls was destroyed by suspected militants in Thanda Stori Khel area of lower Orakzai Agency on Sunday. The unknown suspects planted explosives in one of the classrooms.
This was the 93rd school to be destroyed in the agency and the 58th in the lower districts of the agency since militancy hit the region, said Syed Nouman Ali Shah, a political administration official from the area.
The bomb exploded at around 3am, destroying the building. The sound of the blast was heard as far as five kilometres, Shah said. No causalities were reported. The school was owned by Malik Khayal Mast, he said.
More than 10,000 students have been deprived of education since militants started destroying schools, said the agency’s education officer, Lalzada Khan, adding that the first such incident occurred in March 2009.
“Around 24,000 students are now attending tent schools because the government cannot afford to reconstruct the large number of damaged schools,” he added.
Most schools were targeted in Ferozkhel, Stori Khel, Bezotkhel, Mashti Mela, Mashti Bazar and Abadh Khel areas of the agency.
With the assistance of donor agencies, 80 tent schools are running in the area, said Khan, adding that the security forces have also rebuilt five schools.
Tribal elder Shahbaz Khan and Ahmad Shah said that most of the schools destroyed by militants were government owned.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 10th, 2012.
A government primary school for girls was destroyed by suspected militants in Thanda Stori Khel area of lower Orakzai Agency on Sunday. The unknown suspects planted explosives in one of the classrooms.
This was the 93rd school to be destroyed in the agency and the 58th in the lower districts of the agency since militancy hit the region, said Syed Nouman Ali Shah, a political administration official from the area.
The bomb exploded at around 3am, destroying the building. The sound of the blast was heard as far as five kilometres, Shah said. No causalities were reported. The school was owned by Malik Khayal Mast, he said.
More than 10,000 students have been deprived of education since militants started destroying schools, said the agency’s education officer, Lalzada Khan, adding that the first such incident occurred in March 2009.
“Around 24,000 students are now attending tent schools because the government cannot afford to reconstruct the large number of damaged schools,” he added.
Most schools were targeted in Ferozkhel, Stori Khel, Bezotkhel, Mashti Mela, Mashti Bazar and Abadh Khel areas of the agency.
With the assistance of donor agencies, 80 tent schools are running in the area, said Khan, adding that the security forces have also rebuilt five schools.
Tribal elder Shahbaz Khan and Ahmad Shah said that most of the schools destroyed by militants were government owned.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 10th, 2012.