PESHAWAR: A group of unidentified suspected militants torched a government-run girls’ higher secondary school in Bannu, a district bordering the volatile North Waziristan tribal region, confirmed a senior official on Saturday, sparking fears among residents of renewed militant violence in the area.
Militants driven by ideological opposition to Western-style education for female students targeted hundreds of schools in Pakistan’s tribal region bordering Afghanistan and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province before these areas were reclaimed by the country’s security forces in military operations in recent years.
The attacks aimed at spreading fear and posed a critical challenge to girls’ education in the region, igniting both national and international efforts to uphold the right to education for all.
No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack on the school on the outskirts of Bannu, District Police Officer (DPO) Iftikhar Ali Shah told Arab News, though the attackers left a note on the school gate mentioned the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
“Soon after the incident on Thursday night, a heavy police contingent rushed to the scene to assess the situation,” he said. “We lodged the first information report against unidentified persons but no one has been arrested so far.”
“We are trying to identify suspects and will make arrests very soon,” he added.
This photo, taken on December 29, 2023, shows the gate of a girls’ school in Bannu district with the message “Keep this school shut otherwise be ready for serious consequences” in Urdu following an attack on December 28 by unidentified militants. (Photo courtesy: Bannu Police)
Speaking to Arab News, Mir Nawaz, a local elder, said the attackers had destroyed the school furniture and taken away its solar panels. However, the DPO denied the information and dismissed media reports the school’s laboratory had been set on fire, saying only its record had been destroyed.
“Locals fear violence is once again returning to this area,” Nawaz said. “We have also witnessed the torching of educational institutions, primarily for girls, in the past.”
The police shared the post-attack picture of the damaged school, saying it had been nailed to the main gate by the attackers along with an inscription that warned of serious consequences if the school was reopened.
Saifullah Mehsud, president of the FATA Research Center, an Islamabad-based organization, saying there had been a huge surge in violence following the Afghan Taliban takeover of Kabul in August 2021.
He noted the militants associated with the proscribed TTP network now had advanced weapons in their possession along with Afghan fighters who had joined its ranks.
This photo, taken on December 29, 2023, shows damaged classroom after unidentified militants set a government-run higher secondary school for girls on fire in Bannu district on December 28. (Photo courtesy: Bannu Police)
“The Afghan Taliban’s return to Kabul emboldened fighters associated with the proscribed TTP over two years ago,” he said. “Another factor in the wake of the surge in militant attacks in Pakistan is that almost 28 to 30 small armed factions have joined the TTP ranks.”
The DPO said the police would increase its patrolling of the area to avoid such incidents in the future.
The attack on the girls’ school in Bannu is first of its kind since the Pakistani security forces drove the militants out of their hideouts in the northwest by launching a string of security operations.
The two sides also negotiated with each other until a fragile cease-fire broke down between them in November last year, leading to several deadly attacks in 2023.
Police officers inspect the site after unidentified militants set a government-run school on fire in Bannu district on December 29, 2023. (Photo courtesy: Bannu Police)
