Miscreants set fire to a girls’ school in district Bannu’s Meryan Tehsil Friday night amid an increase in militancy in the tribal region.
The overnight incident targeted the Government Girls Higher Secondary School in Kotka Mumbati Barakzai, which suffered significant damage. The school’s science lab was turned to ashes.
The miscreants stole solar panels and other items and vandalised the school’s boundary wall as well. They also wrote threatening graffiti near the main gate, warning of additional attacks if the school tried to resume classes.
In the wake of the incident, police officials collected evidence from the site, kicking off an investigation into the terror act, the District Police Officer Iftikhar Khan said.
The schools in the district are currently closed due to the winter break. Meanwhile, the incident marks the first instance of a school being set ablaze in Bannu following the upswing in militant attacks which came after the government’s decision to terminate the ceasefire with the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan last year.
