Extremists in Pak warn drivers attached with girls’ schools

Extremists in Pakistan’s northwestern Peshawar city have warned drivers of girls’ schools of dire consequences if they do not stop taking students to schools in two days’ time.

The extremists, in a letter distributed among employees of Begum Shahabuddin High Secondary School, Government Girls High School, Frontier Women’s College and several other institutions, said the drivers would be responsible for whatever happened to them if they did not comply with the warning.

The letter also warned the drivers not to allow any girl to sit on the front seat and ensure that the windows of their vehicles are not tinted. It said the two-day deadline would end on Sunday.

The threat caused panic among the drivers, who have sought security from the government.

The latest threat to employees of girls schools’ has come after a lull of about eight months, reflecting an upsurge in activities of Taliban fighters in the urban areas of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.

The increasing subversive activities of militants in urban areas is putting pressure on parents to stop sending their children to school.

The parents had faced a similar situation a year ago. Thousands of drivers take girls to and from schools and colleges in Peshawar every day.

The Taliban have been opposing girls’ education for the past few years, describing it as un-Islamic.

The militants have destroyed hundreds of girls’ schools across Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the adjoining tribal belt.