Blast damages boundary wall of girls’ school in Bannu

BANNU: An explosive device detonated outside a private girls’ school in the Bannu district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, causing a boundary wall to collapse, police officials said on Thursday.

The attack occurred in the Khairaki area where a private institution named “Future Public School was targetted,” Khairaki Police Station House Officer Khalid Khan said, adding that the front gate of the school was partially damaged.

Police said the explosive material had been planted against the exterior of the building. More than 80 female students are reportedly enrolled at the private school, but the facility was vacant at the time of the blast due to ongoing summer holidays, which prevented any casualties.

Security was beefed up across the area following the explosion, and a search operation has been launched to track down the perpetrators, police added.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the explosion. Militants, including the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), have targeted girls’ educational institutions across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the past.

Earlier, at least three children including a girl were killed and 10 others injured after a suspected quadcopter drone dropped an explosive device on a residential compound in Bajaur district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, police said.

The attack occurred late Wednesday night in the Shinkot area near Dama Dola, bordering Afghanistan, police said.

The blast targeted the home of a local resident identified as Said Wali, destroying parts of the structure.

“The deceased included a five-year-old girl and a 15-year-old boy,” Deputy Superintendent of Police for Mamund Circle Saidur Rehman told reporters. All 13 casualties belonged to the same family, police added.

Emergency officials transported the bodies and the injured to the District Headquarters Hospital in Khar, the main town in Bajaur.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the strike.