Militants said Saturday they had blown up a girls' school in South Waziristan, the latest in a string of attacks on educational institutions. There were no casualties, but the bomb destroyed three out of five classrooms of the government girls' primary school in Tiarza village of tribal South Waziristan, a local security official told AFP. Azam Tariq, a spokesman for the "Sajna" arm of the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for the attack, saying the school had been targeted because it was run by the military and the group was opposed to female education.
Tariq told AFP that militants captured 18 people including school security guards and labourers before planting the explosive, but later released them.