PESHAWAR: Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai has called for the rebuilding of 11 schools torched by suspected Islamic extremists in northern Pakistan.
No one was wounded in the attacks early Friday as the buildings were closed at the time. Police have yet to arrest any suspects, but local police chief Mohammad Ajmal said his forces were working with intelligence agencies and questioning individuals with links to militant groups.
Yousafzai tweeted about the attack, saying “extremists have shown what frightens them most — a girl with a book.” Yousafzai, 21, was shot and wounded by the Pakistani Taliban in 2012 for promoting girls’ education.
Imran Khan, who is expected to become the next prime minister after his party won the most seats in last month’s elections, also condemned the attack on the schools and vowed to improve security once he takes office.
Human Rights Watch, a New York-based advocacy group, called on Pakistan to take urgent measures to make schools safer and to fairly prosecute those responsible for such attacks.
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Malala calls for rebuilding of schools torched in Pakistan
Malala calls for rebuilding of schools torched in Pakistan
- No one was wounded in the attacks
- Pakistan’s prime Minister-designate Imran Khan also condemned the attack on the schools and vowed to improve security once he takes office
Hundreds of migrants land in Greece after search operation at sea
ATHENS: Greece’s Coast Guard rescued about 545 migrants from a fishing boat off Europe’s southernmost island of Gavdos on Friday, one of the biggest groups to reach the country in recent months.
The migrants were found during a Greek search operation some 16 nautical miles (29.6 km) off Gavdos, a Coast Guard statement said. They are all well and are being taken to the port of Agia Galini on the nearby island of Crete, it added.
Greece was on the front line of a 2015-16 migration crisis when more than a million people from the Middle East and Africa landed on its shores before moving on to other European countries, mainly Germany.
Flows have ebbed since then, but both Crete and Gavdos — the two Mediterranean islands nearest to the African coast — have seen a steep rise in migrant boats, mainly from Libya, reaching their shores over the past year and deadly accidents remain common along that route.
Greece, Cyprus, Spain and Italy will be eligible for help in dealing with migratory pressures under a new EU mechanism when the bloc’s pact on migration and asylum enters into force in mid-2026.
The center-right government of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has said deportation of rejected asylum seekers will be a priority.
The migrants were found during a Greek search operation some 16 nautical miles (29.6 km) off Gavdos, a Coast Guard statement said. They are all well and are being taken to the port of Agia Galini on the nearby island of Crete, it added.
Greece was on the front line of a 2015-16 migration crisis when more than a million people from the Middle East and Africa landed on its shores before moving on to other European countries, mainly Germany.
Flows have ebbed since then, but both Crete and Gavdos — the two Mediterranean islands nearest to the African coast — have seen a steep rise in migrant boats, mainly from Libya, reaching their shores over the past year and deadly accidents remain common along that route.
Greece, Cyprus, Spain and Italy will be eligible for help in dealing with migratory pressures under a new EU mechanism when the bloc’s pact on migration and asylum enters into force in mid-2026.
The center-right government of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has said deportation of rejected asylum seekers will be a priority.
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