PESHAWAR: A driver of a school van was killed and two students were injured when their vehicle was attacked by gunmen in the village of Guli Bagh, in Swat district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Officials said the assailants were waiting on a motorcycle and attacked the van as it passed by. They fled soon after the attack.

Swat District Police Officer (DPO) Zahid Marwat while talking to media confirmed the incident and said that the body and injured students were rushed to the Khwazakhela Hospital.

“A contingent of the police immediately reached the attack site. Soon after the incident, a search operation was launched in the area,” he said, adding that so far no one has been arrested till the filing of this report.

Sawab Khan, President of the Swat Private Schools Association, told reporters that the condition of the injured student was critical.

“We demand that the attackers should immediately be arrested,” he said.

“We have also decided to keep all private schools in Swat closed on Tuesday (today) and a rally near the Nishat Chowk will be organised in protest against the attack.”

In the second incident, three students were injured when their school van was caught in crossfire as two armed groups clashed.

Officials claimed that two groups were clashing with each other as the van passed through the area.

One student was critically injured and had to be shifted to Saidu Sharif Hospital, while the condition of the other two is said to be stable.

The students included two boys and a girl.

According to media reports, two suspected terrorists were killed in a clash with security forces at Mingora Bypass Road in the city of Swat, KP.

Four security officials including a captain were injured in the shootout. A pedestrian was also among the injured.

According to Mingora Police Station SHO Tariq Khan and Banr Police Post incharge Anwar Khan, security forces launched an operation on a location on Mingora Bypass Road at around 4:30 am after learning about the presence of terrorists there.

There was an exchange of fire between terrorists and the army as well as Frontier Corps personnel.

Two terrorists, believed to be residents of the Shangla district, were killed in the shootout.

Captain Zulfiqar, Lance Naik Naseer Iqbal, Naik Gul Sadiq and soldier Sajid were injured during the raid.

The injured were shifted to DHQ Saidu Sharif Hospital.

Meanwhile, KP Chief Minister Mahmood Khan strongly condemned the attack on a school van by unidentified armed men in Swat. The CM sought a detailed inquiry report from IGP KP.

Mahmood Khan expressed sympathy with the bereaved family of the school van driver. He prayed for speedy recovery of two injured students in the attack. The CM said it is highly regrettable to target innocent schoolchildren.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022