Girls school, shops blown up in Swabi
SWABI: Another government school for girls was blown up and five shops were destroyed in two separate sabotage acts in the district here on Monday.
Police said that suspected militants planted improvised explosive devices at a primary school for girls in Sherin Banda that exploded with a big bang at 2:30am early in the morning. The classrooms, veranda and boundary wall of the school were damaged in the blast.
It was the fourth incident of its kind in the district during the holy month of Ramazan. Three other schools had been destroyed during the current month before the Monday`s incident.
The residents of they area said that they heard three explosions one after another when they were making preparations or Sehr.
The second blast took place at a market in busy Link Road area and destroyed five shops.
Police said that suspected militants planted improvised explosive device at the backside of the market at busy Link Road. The device went off when people were busy in shopping in the area, they added.
However, no casualty was reported in the incident as the explosive device was planted at the backside of the market. Five shops were partially damaged in the blast.
Meanwhile, militants targeted bunkers of volunteers of a tribal lashkar in Khwezai area while a suspected person was arrested in Michni area of Mohmand tribal region on Monday.
Sources said that militants opened firing on the bunkers of volunteers of tribal lashkar in Khwezai area along the Afghan border with heavy and light weapons.
However, the attackers missed the target, they said. The volunteers and security forces retaliated and launched a search operation in the area. Security forces recovered rocket launchers from the area while attackers managed to escape.
Forces also arrested a suspected person during a raid on a house in Michni area of tehsil Yakaghund. He arrested suspect was shifted to undisclosed location for interrogation.
In Landi Kotal tehsil of Khyber Agency, a powerful blast outside Agency Headquarter Hospital destroyed a private clinic and a medical laboratory besides smashing windowpanes of the hospital building on the night between Sunday and Monday.
Authorities said that the explosive device was planted at the backside of a private clinic, adjacent to the main gate of the hospital, which went off with a big bang around midnight.
Imran Khan, a medicine dealer, said that the blast was so powerful that it created a minor tremor inside the hospital and the medicine market outside the hospital.
The blast also caused partial damage to a medical store. Owner of the store Fazal Rehman Afridi said that a local militant group Abdulah Ezaam Brigade accepted responsibility for the blast as he found leaflets outside his shop on Monday morning in which the group had warned of more such attacks if “vulgarity” was not stopped at the hospital.
Local authorities said they registered a case against unidentified saboteurs and started investigations. A group of doctors have also met the local administration and demanded additional security at the hospital.
Source: Dawn
Date:8/30/2011