The serene Swat Valley once again became a scene of bloodshed and murderous assault on August 10. The available details indicated that unidentified armed men on a motorcycle opened fire on a school van in Swat’s Char Bagh area, killing the driver on the spot, and injuring two students sitting on the front seat with the driver. The Swat District Police Officer (DPO), Zahid Nawaz Marwat, confirmed the attack and said the incident occurred in the morning outside the Knowledge City School in the Guli Bagh locality. He said there were 15 students inside the vehicle at the time of attack. A contingent of police reached the attack site and cordoned it off. A search operation was under way but nobody had so far been arrested. The dead body of the driver and the injured student were moved to the Khwazakhela Hospital. The child – a third grader seated in the passenger seat of the van – was now out of danger. The DPO said that the target of the attack was the driver of the school van, and not the children.
The attack comes a day after the 10th anniversary of the shooting of the Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai by the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), when she was a schoolgirl. So far, nobody has claimed responsibility for the attack. In a tweet, MNA Mohsin Dawar said that the attack should serve as a “wake-up call for the state that appears to be losing its writ in Swat once again”, adding that the people of Swat have been protesting against terrorism but their voices are being ignored, and Pashtuns are being thrown to the wolves again.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) also condemned the attack in which the driver was killed and a young girl was injured. The HRCP said the state should stop ceding space to terrorists. Meanwhile, hundreds of students and teachers of private schools in Swat took to the streets against terrorist activities in the region. They held banners and placards bearing messages of peace as they gathered at Nishat Chowk in Mingora. They also chanted slogans demanding peace in Swat and Malakand Division.