Five teachers among 8 shot dead in KP's Upper Kurram

UPPER KURRAM: At least eight people, including five teachers, were shot dead Thursday in two separate incidents in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Upper Kurram Tehsil, the district administration said, with emergency being imposed in all hospitals of the area after the latest violence in the northwestern province.

Local police said unidentified gunmen shot four of the teachers in the staffroom of the tehsil's high school. All the educators were at the building for performing their exam duties.

The district administration said the three others killed were drivers who brought construction materials to the school. 

In another incident in Parachinar, which falls in Upper Kurram and is the capital of Kurram district, a teacher was killed whilst in a moving vehicle — taking the total number of educators killed to five.

The teacher, named Mohammad Sharif, who was killed inside the car also belonged to the same school, said the police. The teacher was shot while he was travelling on Shalozan Road.

The bodies of those killed were sent to their ancestral villages for burial, the administration added.

Following the incidents, the ongoing matriculation exams — which kicked off on April 28 and are being held under the supervision of Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) Kohat — were postponed till further notice. All educational institutions were also closed till further notice.

The police are searching for the killers, but have not been able to track them down so far. 

Meanwhile, citizens of the area held a protest over the killings in front of the local press club. 

School shootings are rare in Pakistan. Over 140 people, mostly students, were killed in a gun-and-bomb attack at an army school in Peshawar in December 2016.

Condemnation

President Dr Arif Alvi said that the attack on the teachers by those who are the enemies of education is condemnable.

Condemning the attack, the head of state expressed grief over the assassination of on-duty teachers in two incidents.

The president hoped that the suspect would be punished soon as per the law. He also prayed for the elevation of ranks in paradise and sympathised with the bereaved families.

Asif Ali Zardari, former president and Pakistan Peoples Party co-chairman, expressed regret over the killing of the teachers. "Killing of teachers while they are performing their duty is terrorism," he said in a statement.

"Criminals involved in the killing of teachers should be brought to justice," Zardari said as he prayed for the forgiveness of the deceased.

Federal Minister for Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development Sajid Hussain Turi demanded strict action against the perpetrators.