Twelve girls’ schools torched in Pakistan

KARACHI: Twelve girls’ schools have been burnt down by unidentified persons in coordinated attacks in Pakistan’s restive GilgitBaltistan, triggering protest by local residents who sought safety for educational institutions which are often attacked by the militants, a media report said on Friday.

The schools in Chilas town, about 130 kms from Gilgit, were targetted late on Thursday night by unidentified men who also damaged school property across Diamer district, police said.

“Explosions were set off in two schools,” Geo News said.

Following the attacks, locals staged a protest at Siddique Akbar Chowk demanding the arrest of culprits and seeking safety for educational institutes which are often targeted by the militants, it said.

Police started a search operation in the area to arrest the perpetrators. According to the district administration, the schools were underconstruction.

Girls’s schools are often attacked in the northern areas of Pakistan. In December 2011, at least two girls’ schools were damaged in lowintensity explosions in Chilas. Earlier that year, unidentified assailants had also blown up two girls’ schools.

In 2004, girls’ schools in Chilas came under a string of attacks. Nine schools of which eight were girls’ schools were attacked and destroyed in five days in the area in February.

Terrorists have also blown up educational institutions in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).