Protestors in Swat end sit-in after successful negotiations with local administration

SWAT: Successful negotiations between local administration and the protesters on Tuesday ended the sit-in, which erupted after an attack on a school van in Swat killed a van driver and injured schoolchildren a day earlier.

Following the end of the sit-in along with the driver's body, demonstrators held funeral prayers for the deceased.

The local administration assured protestors that the family of the deceased would be compensated, while the expenses of his children's education will be borne by the government.

Meanwhile, a family member of the deceased driver will also be offered a job.

The administration said that the martyr's family and elders of the jirga will be informed about the proceedings of the case.

Earlier during the protest, the people participating in it carried placards and white flags as they chanted slogans against terrorists.

"Insecurity will not be tolerated in Swat. It is the responsibility of the government and state institutions to protect the citizens," the protesting citizens stressed, demanding action against the terrorists.

The Swat Valley, where the attack took place, was once overrun by the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), who shot Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai on a school bus in the same city ten years ago.

The area has seen a resurgence of TTP with a spike in attacks in recent weeks.

"The attacker fled the scene and a search operation has been launched," police official Ali Badshah told AFP, adding that the wounded boy was aged between 10 and 11.

Locals in Mingora, the city where the attack took place, fear it was carried out by the TTP but they have denied responsibility for Monday's shooting.

— Additional input from AFP