Eight schoolteachers were killed on Thursday in two separate incidents of targeted shooting in Pakistan’s restive northwest tribal district on the border with Afghanistan, in a case of possible sectarian violence, police said.
A school teacher, identified as Muhammad Sharif, belonging to the Teri Mengal tribe (Sunni tribe) was killed when his car was ambushed by unknown gunmen on Shalozan Road in Parachinar headquarters of Upper Kurram tribal district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, he said. police.
The incident angered Teri Mengal tribesmen who stormed the staff room of Govt Teri Mengal High School in the same district to avenge Sharif’s murder and killed seven Tori tribe (Shia tribe) teachers, it added. police.
All the teachers were at the school to do their exam homework. The attackers fled after the attack.
No group or individual claimed responsibility for the attacks, but the region is notorious for sectarian clashes between Sunnis and Shiites.
An emergency has been declared at all health facilities in the district. The Kohat Board exam for grades 9 and 10 was also postponed after the murders.
Syed Zahid Hussain, president of the All Khurram Teachers Association, told PTI that all schools will remain closed until the arrest of the defendants involved in the murder of seven teachers.
The police have launched a massive manhunt to arrest the killers.
The incident also comes just two days after Pakistani security forces killed Abdul Jabar Shah, a notorious Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) commander, and two others, and made several key arrests in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. .
President Arif Alvi condemned the incident and expressed his hope that the culprits will soon be arrested and punished according to the law. Pakistan People’s Party co-chairman and former chairman Asif Ali Zardari also condemned the incident and demanded that the authorities take action against the attackers.
Separately, at least six soldiers and three terrorists were killed during a firefight between security forces and terrorists in the North Waziristan tribal district, the army said.