Under-construction girls’ school targeted in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Unidentified attackers blew up an under-construction girls' primary school in Pakistan’s Tank district on Friday (Oct 24). The blast ripped through the school building in Gara Budha village, near Dera Ismail Khan, during the early hours of the morning, according to Dawn.

What happened?

According to the report, police said the explosives had been planted along the school's boundary wall and under several classrooms, causing major structural damage to a facility that was just weeks away from completion. A bomb disposal unit later inspected the site, collecting fragments of the explosive device and assessing the extent of destruction. Authorities have yet to identify who was behind the attack or what their motives were.

Residents, already shaken by years of militant violence in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, voiced anger and frustration. Parents and community leaders condemned the bombing as a direct assault on girls’ education and demanded swift action. "This is not just an attack on a school; it's an attack on the future of our daughters," said one local elder.

According to an ANI report, the attack underscores a troubling pattern in Pakistan’s northwest, where militant groups have repeatedly targeted girls’ schools to intimidate communities and suppress education for women.

Mobile company employees freed

Meanwhile, in a separate incident, four employees of a mobile phone company who were abducted earlier this week were freed on Friday. The workers had been kidnapped from Garah Bakhtiyar while transporting telecom equipment, police told Dawn. They were later released unconditionally in nearby Garah Mastan village, reportedly after their captors feared being caught in an ongoing security crackdown. The Counter-Terrorism Department has, meanwhile, registered a case against unidentified suspects.