At least seven killed in two firing incidents in KP’s Kurram district

Several people, including four school teachers, have been killed in two gun attacks in the Kurram district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, according to Aaj News.

In one of the attacks, unidentified people fired shots inside a school’s staffroom in the Tari Mangal area, killing six people, including four teachers and two staff members.

The incident happened after a man was killed on Shalozan Road near Tari Mangal.

Both attacks were linked to a land dispute between two groups in the area, according to the district police chief.

Initially, the officials said seven teachers had been shot dead, while one policeman was injured.

Police officials and rescuers rushed to the school after the firing while an emergency has been declared at the district’s hospitals.

Police said that the students were taking matriculation exams at the Government High School Tari Mangal — a village located 23km from Parachinar, the district headquarters of Kurram.

Teachers from other parts of the district were also at the school for the exams.

However, the district police chief issued a statement later, revising the death toll and providing details about the attack.

President Dr Arif Alvi condemned the attacks and mourned the death of “on-duty teachers."

“The attack on teachers by the enemies of knowledge is condemnable,” a statement on Twitter quoted him as saying.

The president said he hoped that the “suspects will be arrested soon and punished according to the law”. He offered prayers for the slain individuals and extended condolences to their heirs.

Similarly, PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari called the firing incident an act of “terrorism”.

The perpetrators of the attack should be taken to task, a statement shared on the PPP’s official Twitter quoted him as saying.

He expressed his heartfelt condolences and sympathy to the affected families and prayed for forgiveness for the bereaved teachers.

"Such incidents cannot be tolerated at any cost," he stressed.

Separately, ISPR reported on Thursday that six soldiers had been martyred in the North Waziristan district.