Taliban blow up girls' school in NW Pakistan
PAKISTAN - 6 FEBRUARY 2010
PESHAWAR, Pakistan – Taliban militants blew up a girls' school on Saturday in northwest Pakistan, the latest in a wave of attacks by Islamist extremists targeting educational institutions, a minister said.
No one was hurt in the attack, which took place in the village of Huwaid, eight kilometres (five miles) north of the town of Bannu.
"The explosive material was planted at three different places in the girls' primary school, which completely destroyed five out of seven rooms of the building," provincial education minister Sardar Hussain Babak said.
He blamed the attack on Taliban, saying they were "opposed to girls' education".
Senior police official Iqbal Marwat confirmed the incident. He added: "No one was hurt in the explosion as it occurred at 6:00 am (0100 GMT)."
Pakistan's military is engaged in offensives against Islamist fighters across much of the northwest including tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, a region branded by Washington the most dangerous place on Earth.
About 30,000 Pakistani troops poured into South Waziristan in mid-October to try and dismantle strongholds of the Taliban leadership, enraging militants who have responded with a surge of bomb blasts and attacks.
Local residents examine the damaged portion of a government girls school wrecked by suspected militants on the outskirts of Bannu, Pakistan, Saturday, Feb. 6, 2010.
Source: AFP
PAKISTAN - 6 FEBRUARY 2010
PESHAWAR, Pakistan – Taliban militants blew up a girls' school on Saturday in northwest Pakistan, the latest in a wave of attacks by Islamist extremists targeting educational institutions, a minister said.
No one was hurt in the attack, which took place in the village of Huwaid, eight kilometres (five miles) north of the town of Bannu.
"The explosive material was planted at three different places in the girls' primary school, which completely destroyed five out of seven rooms of the building," provincial education minister Sardar Hussain Babak said.
He blamed the attack on Taliban, saying they were "opposed to girls' education".
Senior police official Iqbal Marwat confirmed the incident. He added: "No one was hurt in the explosion as it occurred at 6:00 am (0100 GMT)."
Pakistan's military is engaged in offensives against Islamist fighters across much of the northwest including tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, a region branded by Washington the most dangerous place on Earth.
About 30,000 Pakistani troops poured into South Waziristan in mid-October to try and dismantle strongholds of the Taliban leadership, enraging militants who have responded with a surge of bomb blasts and attacks.
Local residents examine the damaged portion of a government girls school wrecked by suspected militants on the outskirts of Bannu, Pakistan, Saturday, Feb. 6, 2010.
Source: AFP
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