Militants blow up boys school in Khyber Agency

The school was identified as the government boys primary school in the Haji Sher Bahardar Kalay.

KHYBER AGENCY: A government-run boys school was blown up using explosives by unidentified militants in the Malakdin Khel area of Khyber Agency on Thursday, officials said.

The school was targeted in the early hours of Thursday morning, sources from the area said, adding that there were no casualties.

They identified the school as the government boys primary school in the Haji Sher Bahardar Kalay.

Security officials, responding to the bombing, had launched a search in the area for those responsible.

Data from the rehabilitation strategy of Khyber Agency shows that there are around 139 fully and partially damaged schools in the Bara sub-division alone. However, some of the schools have been reconstructed as part of the strategy.

FATA’s literacy rate is much lower than the national average with an estimated 1.6 million children out of school. However, girls suffer more than boys with a literacy rate that lags far behind boys. Secondary school girls also have an exceptionally high dropout rate.