5 teachers among 8 killed in Upper Kurram shootings

In the most recent act of violence in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the district administration reported that at least eight people, including five teachers, were killed in Upper Kurram Tehsil. According to the local police, a teacher was killed in the first incident in Parachinar, the district’s capital and a city in Upper Kurram, while riding in a moving vehicle. Separately, four teachers were among the seven people shot by unidentified gunmen in the Government High School Tari Mangal staff room. All of the teachers were present at the building to carry out their exam-related duties.

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

Following the shootings, the authorities have imposed emergency in all hospitals in the area.

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.