The blast destroyed the Irish Presentation Order Girls School in the valley’s Sangota area, but there were no causulties, apparently because no Irish sisters were present at the time of the attack, church sources said.
Five local staff working at the school were also kidnapped, reported Irish media, but there was no immediate independent confirmation. The school was reportedly bombed in a morning attack earlier this week, and then looted, before it was later bombed again Tuesday, October 7, and set on fire.
Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin was quick to condemn the destruction of the school which he said educated some 1,000 poor schoolchildren every year. There were Muslim and Christian students enrolled at the school, which was established in 1965, Irish media reported.
MAJOR DESTRUCTION
"The destruction of the school represents an enormous set-back for the girls and families of this area and for the courageous Sisters of the Presentation Order, who run this and several other schools in Pakistan," said Minister Martin in published remarks.
"Such incidents remind us of the often very difficult, and dangerous, conditions in which the Presentation Sisters — and many Irish missionaries around the world — serve the people of the countries in which they operate," he added. He has reportedly urged the Pakistani government and neigboring Afghanistan to increase cooperation in combating terrorist and militant operations.
Four Irish sisters work in Pakistan, but all of them have reportedly been withdrawn from rural outposts because of the worsening security situation.
MORE ATTACKS
Tuesday’s violence was no isolated incident said the Catholic Church’s National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP). Over 150 girls’ schools have been attacked in the North-West Frontier Province by the Pakistani Taliban, according to NCJP estimates.
Bomb threats are also occurring regularly in Pakistan’s major cities, including Islamabad and Lahore. Late Tuesday, October 7, three bombs detonated among fruit juice shops in the Ghari Shau shopping area of Lahore, Pakistan’s second largest city.
Advocacy groups have expressed concern over rising Islamic extremism in the country. “These are absolutely senseless attacks aimed simply at spreading fear and terror into the hearts and minds of people," said Cecil Chaudhry, Executive Secretary of the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance. "The victims are ordinary people, many from poor backgrounds. We appeal to the international community for support for the people of Pakistan at this time." (With reporting by BosNewsLife’s Chief International Correspondent, Stefan J. Bos).
