DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan: At least seven teachers were killed in a shooting at a school in northwestern Pakistan on Thursday, in an apparent retaliation to an earlier attack in which another teacher was shot dead, Geo TV reported.
Both incidents took place on Thursday in the Parachinar area of Kurram tribal district near the border with Afghanistan, the local television channel said. It said the motive behind the killings remained unclear.
Local police said unidentified gunmen shot the teachers in the staffroom of Government High School Tari Mangal. All the educators were performing their invigilation duties during examinations.
In an earlier incident in Parachinar, which falls in Upper Kurram and is the capital of Kurram district, a teacher was killed while on a vehicle — taking the total number of educators killed in a day to eight.
Local police said they were gathering more information and investigating the incident.
Killings condemned
President Arif Alvi condemned the attacks, grieving the killing of “on-duty teachers”.
“The attack on teachers by the enemies of knowledge is condemnable,” a statement on Twitter quoted him as saying.
The president said he hoped that the “suspects will be arrested soon and punished according to the law”.
Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari also demanded punishment for those behind the attacks and an “immediate and complete investigation of the matter by police and the administration”.
A statement on the PPP’s Twitter quoted him as saying that such incidents could not be tolerated at any cost and that their prevention should be ensured.
