Repeat transgression: Two primary schools blown up

BARA/ RISALPUR: A government school for boys was destroyed in the Risalpur area of Nowshera when explosives placed in the building by suspected militants went off on Saturday. Muhammad Ishaq, a Risalpur police official, said that at around 6:50pm, the police were informed about an explosion in Behram Kallay on the outskirts of Risalpur. A police van rushed to the site and reported that a bomb planted near the boundary wall of the school building went off, destroying two rooms and the boundary wall. A search operation has been launched in the area and the police have arrested multiple suspects for interrogation. More than 20 schools have been destroyed in Nowshera district despite police claims that the law and order situation in the area is under control. However, they have failed to arrest a single person in connection with the past bombings. Militants targeted another school in the Sipah area of Bara tehsil of Khyber Agency in a separate incident in the early hours on the same day. According to a political administration official, militants belonging to a banned outfit, Lashkar-e-Islam, first pulled out the furniture from Haji Jan Gul Kallay Girls Primary School, dislodged all the doors and windows and then planted the explosives in one of the rooms. The entire structure was destroyed in the explosion. The official added that the school had been shut down due to security problems in the area.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 16^th, 2012.