Angry protesters took to the streets for the second consecutive day on Tuesday as they demanded action against the assailants who opened fire on a vehicle carrying school children in Swat yesterday.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) The driver of a school van was killed and two students were injured in an attack by unknown armed men in Gali Bagh village of Swat district.
Officials said the assailants were waiting on a motorcycle and attacked the van as it passed. They fled immediately after the attack.
Mass protests erupted across the region and continued for a second day today as protesters demanded the arrest of the attackers.
36 hours after a school van was targeted in Swat by suspected militants, residents have choked the main artery of the district, keeping the body of the slain driver in the middle of the road. No FIR has surfaced and low level delegation meetings to end the blockage have failed. pic.twitter.com/o74eDYibgJ
— Iftikhar Firdous (@IftikharFirdous) October 11, 2022
Journalist Iftikhar Firdous said that the protesters have been on the road for 36 hours, the grassroots negotiations with them have failed so far.
Locals claim that terrorists from banned organizations were behind the attack, though no terrorist group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.
According to some reports, the protesters have refused to bury the victims of the attack because they are staging a dharna.
Meanwhile, social activists criticized the government for not paying attention to the issue.
Member of National Assembly Mohsin Dawar said in a tweet that “the attack on the school van in Swat should serve as a wake-up call for the state which seems to be losing its grip in the region”.
The attack on a school van in Swat should serve as a wake up call for the state that appears to be losing its writ in Swat once again. The people of Swat have been protesting against terrorism but their voices are being ignored. Pashtuns are being thrown to the wolves again.
— Mohsin Dawar (@mjdawar) October 10, 2022
Former Federal Interior Minister and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao also expressed concern over the government’s failure to recognize the seriousness of the issue.
The #attack on a school van in #Swat killing the driver and injuring a girl student is a very serious issue. The blame rests on the Provincial Govt and the local administration for not gearing itself to the crisis which has developed in the past few weeks#KPGovernment pic.twitter.com/B2KzHvH4MX
— Aftab Khan Sherpao (@AftabSherpao) October 10, 2022
The concerned citizens of the area also warned the concerned authorities to march to Islamabad if the accused are not brought to justice as soon as possible.
