Militants blow up primary school in Bajaur Agency

The vehicle of an administration official was also targeted with an IED

PESHAWAR: A boys' primary school in Bajaur Agency was razed to the ground when militants planted explosives in the building while security officials who were on their way to investigate the matter were also targeted.

“A boys' primary school was blown up in the early hours of the morning. The militants had planted explosives in the building,” a senior official of the political administration told The Express Tribune.

A tribal elder from the area said a loud explosion was heard in the area and when they rushed to the school the building had turned to rubble.

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The incident took place in the volatile Mamoond Tehsil of Bajaur Agency which is considered to be the spiritual homeland of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan’s top leadership. The area still remains off-limits to outsiders.

The vehicle of the political tehsildar, an administration official, who went to investigate the bombing of the school in the area was also targeted with an improvised explosive device (IED), officials said.

“It was hardly a few meters away from where the school was bombed, which meant it was a trap,” the official said.

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The official claimed 116 schools have been destroyed in Bajaur Agency since 2005, but a large number of schools have been reconstructed since with the help of military and other donor organisations.

In its revised figures the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) secretariat showed 229 schools have been completely destroyed in all seven districts of Fata. The schools require a minimum of $13million to be reconstructed.

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However, officials say these are the only initial assessments of damages, the actual number of schools destroyed in the areas might be twice as much the original figure.