Police clashed with suspected Taliban militants trying to recruit schoolchildren in Tank on Monday, in the fight a policeman and two militants were killed, police said. After the gun battle in Tank, the militants threw at least three hand grenades in different parts of the town, injuring around a dozen people.
The fighting began after a group of Taliban fighters visited a school and urged the children to give up their studies and join jihad. "They assembled the students in the school ground and told them jihad is more important than education," said Fareed Khan, principal of the privately-run Oxford Public School.
Police confronted the Taliban as they left the school and a gunfight broke out. "A police inspector and a local militant were killed. Two Taliban have been arrested, one is seriously wounded," said a police officer. The wounded Taliban later succumbed to injuries.