Armed groups in the region, such as the Pakistani Taliban Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), reject education for girls. The TTP is best known for shooting then-teenager Malala Yousafzai in 2012 for advocating for girls’ education. Two years later she won the Nobel Peace Prize.
The double attack took place on Sunday night (21) in the villages of Hassu Khel and Gul Mosaki, both in the North Waziristan district, about 30 kilometers from the border with Afghanistan.
“Terrorist fighters installed home-made explosives in two girls’ public schools, which were detonated early this morning,” Rehan Gul Khattak, a local government official, told AFP.
Six classrooms were destroyed in Hassu Khel, and another three in Gul Mosaki, he explained.
“It was definitely the terrorists, but we still don’t know which group it is,” he explained.
District Police Chief Salim Riaz confirmed the incidents and stressed that an “in-depth investigation” had been opened.
North Waziristan is one of the former semi-autonomous tribal zones in the northwest of the country. In this area, the Pakistani military conducted several operations against insurgents linked to al-Qaeda and the Taliban after the United States and its North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies invaded Afghanistan in 2001.
Security in Pakistan has deteriorated in recent months since the Taliban returned to power in Kabul, especially in the regions bordering Afghanistan.
Most of the attacks are carried out by the TTP, a group that differs from the Afghan Taliban but shares the same Islamic ideology.
Pakistan accuses the Afghan Taliban of allowing the TTP to plan its attacks from Afghan territory, which both sides deny.
Source: DN
