WANA — A government-run primary school for girls in Lower South Waziristan was reduced to rubble early Tuesday after unidentified assailants planted explosives at the site.
The blast occurred in the pre-dawn hours, long before students or staff arrived. No casualties were reported. Local police confirmed the structure was empty, but the facility — which served dozens of students in the area — is now a total loss.
This isn’t an isolated incident. Militant groups in the tribal districts have long targeted educational institutions, particularly those catering to girls. By destroying the building, the attackers have effectively halted the education of every student enrolled there.
“We heard a massive explosion around 3:00 a.m.,” said a local resident living near the school. “By the time we reached the site, the main building had collapsed. There was no one around.”
Security forces cordoned off the area shortly after the blast. A search operation is currently underway, though officials have yet to name a specific group responsible for the attack. No militant organization has claimed credit, a common pattern in the region’s ongoing security struggles.
The destruction of the school comes amid a fragile security climate in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Local activists argue that these attacks are aimed at intimidating families into keeping their daughters home. For these communities, the loss of the building is more than just a financial hit; it’s a direct strike at the future of local girls.
District authorities have promised to investigate, yet parents in the area remain skeptical. With the school gone, the nearest facility is now miles away — a distance many families cannot afford to bridge.
The rubble remains scattered across the site this afternoon, a stark reminder of the tenuous hold education has in a region caught in the crossfire of insurgency.
