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Saturday December 21, 2024

School van attack: Swat protesters say terror attacks, unrest intolerable

Swat continues protest for second day after a driver was shot dead and a student critically wounded in an attack on a school bus

By Web Desk
October 11, 2022
Students and teachers of private schools take part in a protest against recent attack in Mingora on October 10, 2022. — AFP
Students and teachers of private schools take part in a protest against recent attack in Mingora on October 10, 2022. — AFP

SWAT: Protests continued on Tuesday in Swat for a second day after a van driver was killed and a student injured in an attack on a school bus a day earlier.

The demonstrations will continue till the culprits are brought to justice, the protesters said.

Monday's attack on a school bus led up to 2,000 girls and boys to walk out of classes in protest.

Locals in Mingora, the city where the attack took place, fear it was carried out by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) but the militants have denied responsibility for Monday's shooting.

Students from private schools across Swat Valley staged a protest on Monday too, calling for peace.

"People are angry and they are protesting. Students from all the private schools came out to protest," Ahmad Shah, principal of a private school told AFP, adding that schools would remain closed on Tuesday.

The attack came a day after the 10th anniversary of the shooting of Malala Yousafzai in Swat Valley by the TTP when she was a schoolgirl.

During Tuesday's protest, the demonstrators said that the terrorist attacks and unrest in the province are intolerable. "We want peace in the region and we will fight terrorism," said the protesters.

A case has been registered against unidentified men for attacking the school bus.

Imran wants power amid KP's chaotic situation: Khawaja Asif

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, meanwhile, had said PTI Chairman Imran Khan is claiming that he should return to power at a time when there is complete chaos in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the law and order situation is deteriorating.

He was speaking at the National Assembly where Federal Minister Mian Javed Latif and JI's Maulana Abdul Akbar Chitrali expressed concern over the law and order situation in the province.

Referring to the attack on the school bus, Asif had said: "The way the educationists have been treated only a day before is very regrettable."

The minister also suggested that the National Assembly debate the KP law and order situation.

Meanwhile, Maulana Chitrali expressed concern over the incidents of target killings and murders in the province.