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Gunmen kill 5 female teachers in Pakistan - Washington Times
Gunmen killed five female teachers and two other people on Tuesday in an ambush on a van carrying workers home from their jobs at a community center in northwest Pakistan, officials said.
The van was transporting teachers and aid workers from the center in conservative Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Two health workers, one man and one woman, also were killed, and the driver was wounded.
The attack was a reminder of the risks faced by educators and aid workers, especially women, in an area in which Islamic militants often target women and girls trying to get an education. Many militants in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province oppose female education and have blown up schools and killed female educators as a way to discourage girls from getting an education.
In a case in the same province that gained international attention, a Taliban gunman shot 15-year-old Malala Yousufzai in the head in October for criticizing the militants and promoting girls’ education. She currently is recovering in Britain.
The workers were on their way home from a community center in the town of Swabi, where they were working at a primary school and adjoining medical center. Gunmen on motorcycles opened fire with automatic weapons, said Javed Akhtar, executive director of the non-governmental organization Support With Working Solutions.
The NGO conducts programs in the education and health sectors and runs a primary school and a medical clinic at the community center in Swabi, he said.
Gunmen killed five female teachers and two other people on Tuesday in an ambush on a van carrying workers home from their jobs at a community center in northwest Pakistan, officials said.
The van was transporting teachers and aid workers from the center in conservative Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Two health workers, one man and one woman, also were killed, and the driver was wounded.
The attack was a reminder of the risks faced by educators and aid workers, especially women, in an area in which Islamic militants often target women and girls trying to get an education. Many militants in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province oppose female education and have blown up schools and killed female educators as a way to discourage girls from getting an education.
In a case in the same province that gained international attention, a Taliban gunman shot 15-year-old Malala Yousufzai in the head in October for criticizing the militants and promoting girls’ education. She currently is recovering in Britain.
The workers were on their way home from a community center in the town of Swabi, where they were working at a primary school and adjoining medical center. Gunmen on motorcycles opened fire with automatic weapons, said Javed Akhtar, executive director of the non-governmental organization Support With Working Solutions.
The NGO conducts programs in the education and health sectors and runs a primary school and a medical clinic at the community center in Swabi, he said.
