From Our Correspondent
SWAT: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Inspector General of Police (IGP) Moazam Jah Ansari on Thursday said the two violent incidents that left Swat Valley reeling under mass protests were not acts of terror, but vengeance arising from a personal feud, which led to fears of a resurging militancy.
“The murder of the school-van driver on October 10 was a case of honour-killing,” said KP IGP while addressing a press conference on the attack in Swat.
He said in the case a man killed the husband of his sister for honour. “We have collared one of the three suspects, while the other two will soon land in the hands of police.”
IG Jah said, similarly, another incident of firing in which apparently children were targeted in Lower Dir, was also an armed clash between two rival groups.
Armed men attacked a school van in the Char Bagh area of Swat Valley killing the driver and injuring a student on Monday, October 10.
The shooters targeted the driver of the school van and wounded him fatally, adding that 10-11 students were present inside the van at the time of the shooting. The police also confirmed that only one child, sitting in the front seat with the driver, was injured in the attack.
Following the incident, the whole valley took to the streets to protest against the attack, believing it was an act of terrorism.
The protestors said that the terrorist attacks and the unrest in the province are intolerable. “We want peace in the region and we will fight terrorism,” said the protesters.
Residents of Mingora, the city where the attack took place, fear it was carried out by the militants but the militants have denied responsibility for Monday’s shooting.
Malala Yousafzai, the world’s youngest Nobel laureate, also registered her protest against the armed attack on a van full of schoolkids in her hometown, where she was shot for going to school almost a decade ago.
“I add my voice to thousands of people protesting for peace in Swat. Monday’s attack on a school bus full of children is a frightening reminder that our people must not be forced back into lives of fear and terrorism,” Malala said in a heartfelt note on Twitter.
