At least eight people, including five teachers, were killed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Upper Kurram Tehsil on Thursday, in the latest incident of violence in the northwestern province, Geo TV reported.
The motive behind the killings remained unclear, and the teachers killed in both incidents belong to the country’s Shi’ite Muslim minority.
The report quoting local police said that in the first incident in Parachinar, which falls in Upper Kurram and is the capital of Kurram district, a teacher was killed whilst in a moving vehicle.
Separately, unidentified gunmen shot seven people, including four teachers, in the staffroom of Government High School Tari Mangal. All the educators were at the building for performing their exam 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 report said quoting the administration.
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.
