Twelve schools - eight girls and four boys schools - were attacked by bombs and set on fire overnight in a northern Pakistani district where Taliban-linked militants opposed to girls’ education are active, Reuters reported.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but Pakistani Taliban and allied Islamist militants, who regard girls education as anti-Islam, have been attacking thousands of schools for young women in northwestern and northern parts of the country.
The attacks in villages of Diamer district in northern Gilgit, an area known for its scenic beauty but which has seen Taliban-linked attacks on foreign tourists and minority Shi’ite Muslims, had been a well planned and coordinated act, police chief Raja Ajmal said.