Terrorists reportedly bombed a government school for girls in one of Pakistan’s restive Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) along the Afghanistan border.
Three classrooms were demolished by the explosive attack on February 8, but no loss of life was reported.
The FATA is a known hotbed for Taliban militants and other terrorists.
“Militants have often targeted schools in Pakistan’s volatile tribal areas,” notes the Press Trust of India. “Dozens of schools have been blown up in the past in various areas of [the FATA’s] Orakzai Agency, considered a stronghold of terrorists.”
On December 16, Taliban gunmen attacked a school in Peshawar, Pakistan, killing at least 141 people, the majority of them children.
The Pentagon has accused Pakistan of willingly acting as a sanctuary for terrorists. Most U.S. military fatalities in the Afghanistan war have occurred near the Pakistan border.
“In view of the attack on the school in Peshawar, security has been tightened in the provincial capital,” reports the Press Trust of India. “Police claimed to have arrested at least 59 suspects including 35 illegal Afghan immigrants during a search operation.”
Pakistan experienced a spate of terrorist attacks on February 8.
The Indian news outlet reports that three members of a tribal area peace committee were killed and five others wounded that day by terrorists using an Improvised Explosive Device (IED), also known as a homemade bomb.
“Meanwhile, the Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) [on February 8] foiled a militant plot by defusing six bombs in Peshawar,” adds the Press Trust of India. “The BDS officials defused the bombs found… in [the] Ghaziabad area. A manhunt has been launched to arrest those involved in the failed plot.”