Police said that the attack targeted the Rozatul Atfaal Academy in Charkhakhel village at around 1:40 am and a classroom was destroyed from the force of the blast.
School administrator Gul Nabi told reporters that the blast occurred during the early hours of Saturday and the school’s security guard was sleeping on the roof, close to the main gate. Nabi believes that militants may be behind the attack.
An official of the Bhanamari police station said that the police had registered a case against unidentified miscreants but no arrests had been made so far.
A Bomb Disposal Unit official said that around two kilogrammes of explosives were planted at the foundation of the building and detonated with a remote control.
The institution, according to Gul Nabi, was a secondary-level school and students were taught Quran and other religious books in addition to English. There were separate classes for boys and girls. But, he said, no threats had been received from militants or anyone else. He said that there were 377 students at the school.
According to locals, it was the second such attack in less than a fortnight. Earlier, on September 6, militants had tried to destroy a high school for girls in Landi Arbab village, but the school’s building remained intact and only a portion of a wall was damaged. That school is hardly a kilometre away from the school attacked on Saturday.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 19th, 2010.
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