Regressive forces’ first and last attack is school-going children, especially girls, wherever they can strike. In this regard, gunmen have targeted a school van in Swat’s Charbagh, in which the van driver was killed and a school child injured. The attack shows the ongoing violence spree in Swat. The beautiful Swat area is once more overrun with Taliban. Earlier in August, there were rumours of the Taliban returning to Swat and films showing members of the outlawed group holding government employees captive. Since then, there has been a constant sense of impending attack across the district. The head of the Aman Committee, Idrees Khan, was attacked on September 13. Seven other individuals, including two police officers and a kid, died along with him. Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) quickly claimed responsibility for this heinous deed after the attack. According to their statement, the head of the peace committee has been on their hit list for the last 13 years. The latest attack shows the strong presence of the militants in the area. While verifying the attack, Swat District Police Officer Zahid Marwat says that it happened early Monday in front of Knowledge City School in the Guli Bagh neighbourhood. He says at the time of the assault, there were 15 children inside the car. The third-grader who was sitting in the van’s passenger seat, was no longer in danger because the body and the injured pupil had been sent to the Khwazakhela Hospital.
The attack reminds the people of the Malala Yousafzai attack. The Nobel Prize winner now, was once a school girl, when the militants targeted the van and injured her and two other girls. They all miraculously survived the attack and injuries because of timely treatment but the incident left deep scars on society. A section of our society hates Malala for no reason. The resurgence of militants in Swat and elsewhere should be taken seriously. We have already seen decades of terrorism killing hundreds of thousands of people in our part of the world. Pakistan cannot afford fighting another wave of insurgency.
