A girl was killed and six other female students sustained injuries after a police officer posted outside a school in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Swat district opened fire on them, the police said.
District Police Officer (DPO) Shafeequllah Gandapur told Dawn.com that the constable, identified as Aalim, was arrested immediately after the attack. He claimed that the accused policeman was “mentally unstable”.
He added that further investigation was underway to ascertain details of the shooting.
Gandapur further said that the wounded children have been moved to the Saidu Sharif Teaching Hospital and an emergency has been imposed at the facility.
One of the injured girls, who is currently being treated at the hospital, told Dawn.com that the suspect opened indiscriminate fire on their van as soon as it exited the school gate.
“All the schoolchildren got scared and started shouting after which people started gathering,” she added.
After the gruesome incident was reported, KP Inspector General Akhtar Hayat Gandapur took notice of the shooting and visited the injured children along with Malakand Regional Police Officer Nasir Mehmood Dasti, DPO Gandapur, and Swat Deputy Commissioner Ifranullah Wazir.
A statement issued by the Swat police said that RPO Malakand directed hospital authorities to ensure the best treatment for the injured girls.
