Pakistan: Targeted attacks: Militants destroy school, torch house in Mattani

The Express Tribune

Militants blew up a government high school for boys in Mattani on Wednesday. Locals said dozens of heavily armed militants came to the area and held the watchman hostage while planting four bombs around the school building. The explosions occurred successively, destroying all 17 rooms of the school. Police said around 60 kilogrammes of explosives were used in the attack. The school is located on the border of Frontier Region Peshawar and Mattani. House destroyed Unidentified militants torched two houses in Jaba. Police said militants attacked Nawaz and his nephew Farman’s house with RPG-7 rockets after surrounding the area. Following a confrontation for about an hour, the house owners realised they were outnumbered and fled, following which the militants set it on fire. In the arson, another house was also damaged. The police said they had heard rumours about militants taking several residents hostage, but discovered the next morning that all those living there had escaped and were safe. This is the second such attack by militants on homes of rivals in the past one month. Previously, four houses in Sheikh Nala were targeted, in which a woman was killed and three others injured.