PESHAWAR: Unidentified gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire on a school van in Swat’s Charbagh area in northwestern Pakistan on Monday, police said, killing the driver and injuring one student.
Insurgents from the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) took partial control of Swat Valley in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province in 2007, before being ousted two years later in a major military operation hailed as a telling blow against militant violence. During this time, militants unleashed a reign of terror, killing and beheading politicians, singers, soldiers and opponents. They banned female education and destroyed nearly 200 girls' schools.
In recent weeks, there have been widespread reports of a return of militants to the valley. Last month, a bombing claimed by the TTP killed eight people, including an influential anti-Taliban leader Idrees Khan, in what was the first major bombing in the area in over a decade.
Monday’s attack was also reminiscent of an attack on Malala Yousafzai in 2012 by Taliban gunmen for defying the militant group with her outspoken views on women’s right to education. Malala survived the attack and won the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize, becoming the world's youngest Nobel laureate.
The school van was dropping around 10 students to school when it was attacked by armed gunmen on a motorcycle on Monday morning, police said in a statement.
“An incident of (gun) firing on a school van driver happened in Tehsil Charbagh. As a result of the firing, the school van driver (named Hussain Ahmad, aged 30-32) was killed and a child has minor injuries and was shifted to a nearby hospital. His condition is now normal,” the press release said.
Police said a motorcycle helmet and a jacket had been recovered from the spot: “The district Swat Police were present on the spot and a search operation has been initiated in the area.”
A local spokesperson for Rescue 1122, Shafiqa Gul, said the service arrived at the scene immediately, confirming that the driver was killed, while the students in the van had been moved to the Khwaza Khela Hospital.
Swat Police Spokesperson Moin Fayaz said an investigation was in progress and no outfit had as yet accepted responsibility for the attack.
Locals in the area fear the assault was carried out by the Pakistani Taliban but the militants have denied responsibility for Monday's shooting.
Mohammad Khurasani, a spokesperson for the TTP, condemned the attack and said the group was not involved.
Family members of the students and civil society activists protested in the Gali Bagh area of Swat, with the body of the deceased driver placed on the road. Israr Ahmad, the brother of the driver, told media the family had no personal enmities.
AFP reported the attack led up to 2,000 girls and boys to walk out of classes in protest.
Sawab Khan, the executive secretary of the Private School Association Management if Swat, said all private schools in the district of Swat would remain closed tomorrow, Tuesday, as a mark of condolence. He also announced a protest by schools at Swat’s Nishat Chowk at 2pm on Tuesday.
“If the culprits were not arrested in 24 hours, the protest will be extended to all the districts of the province,” Khan said.