Gunmen ambush Pakistan school minibus, 3 Shia students killed, 6 taken captive
Jang
Shia children injured in a previous bombing at the Bari Imam shrine in Islamabad. Photograph: AP
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AFP) — Gunmen on Friday ambushed a minibus carrying children to school in remote northwest Pakistan, killing the driver, wounding two children and apparently kidnapping six others, police said.
The bus was ambushed outside the town of Hangu in the country's troubled North West Frontier Province, which borders Afghanistan and is plagued by sectarian violence as well as Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked militants.
"Unknown gunmen fired at the school van carrying Shiite students. The driver was killed, two children were injured, while six appear to have been kidnapped by the attackers," local police station chief Saeed Khan told AFP.
"Police are searching for the attackers in the nearby mountains," he added, saying he had no further details about the missing students.
Hangu, which has been a flashpoint for sectarian violence in the past, is located about 175 kilometres (110 miles) west of the capital Islamabad.
Shiite and Sunni Muslim groups signed a peace accord in Hangu last month after days of sectarian clashes in which at least nine people were killed.
Shiites account for about 20 percent of Pakistan's 160-million-strong, Sunni-majority population.
The groups usually coexist peacefully but outbreaks of sectarian violence have claimed more than 4,000 lives across Pakistan since the late 1980s.
AFP 27 Feb 2009
Meanwhile, gunmen opened fire on a school van near the northwestern town of Hangu on Friday, killing its driver and injuring three students before abducting six other children, police officer Arshad Khan said. Those abducted were between the ages of nine and 18, he said.
Pakistan's northwest is a violent, lawless region, where criminal gangs and Islamist militants take refuge.
Associated Press writer Hussain Afzal contributed to this report from Parachinar.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hkiMxbHNH0BqgpWA2ZG6VD6wVTmAD96JO5900
....Driver killed in Hangu school van firing
Updated at: 0955 PST, Friday, February 27, 2009
HANGU: A driver was killed and two students sustained injuries when unknown persons opened fire at a school van in Hangu. The attackers also kidnapped six students.Police sources said a school van travelling from Hangu to Kohat when unidentified persons opened fire at van near Merobik Banda area killing driver Asghar Ali on the spot and injuring two students Zafar and Farhan.
Eyewitnesses said the attackers also abducted six students. The body and injured were shifted to Civil Hospital. Heavy police contingents launched search operation for the recovery of the children.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/updates.asp?id=69844
12 men abducted in Hangu
HANGU: Unidentified armed men on Monday opened fire on a Peshawar-bound vehicle before abducting 12 of its passengers near Kurram Agency’s border with Hangu district, officials said. An official told Daily Times that the vehicle was on its way to Peshawar when the armed men intercepted it in Tootkas area and abducted 12 of its 15 passengers.Hangu District Police Officer Sajjad Khan confirmed the incident. He added that even though the Khasadar force was deployed in the area, the Taliban were openly operating there. saboor khan (Daily Times)
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009\02\24\story_24-2-2009_pg7_28
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Kurram Agency Toori abducted persons couldn’t be recovered
The News, 27 Feb
PESHAWAR: Even after lapse of five days twelve abducted persons of Toori tribesmen could not be recovered.
Sources said that that some armed persons had abducted twelve persons of Toori tribesmen on way from Kuram Agency to Peshawar from Tootkas area and one trying to escape was shot dead. Despite lapse of five days, the kidnapped persons could not be recovered.
Toori tribesmen have demanded immediate release of the abductees and ensuring safe travel on the Peshawar-Kurram main highway.
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سکول بس فائرنگ میں ڈرائیور ہلاک
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| ضلع ہنگو سُنی شیعہ فسادت کے لحاظ سے انتہائی حساس ہے |
پولیس کے ایک اہلکار عمر حیات نے بی بی سی کو بتایا کہ جمعہ کو ہنگو شہر سے چار کلومیٹر دور جنوب کی جانب بہادر بانڈہ کے علاقے میروباک میں نامعلوم مسلح افراد نے سکول کے بچوں کی ایک گاڑی پر فائرنگ کی جس کے نتیجہ میں گاڑی کے ڈرئیور ہلاک جبکہ دو بچے زخمی ہوگئے ہیں۔
پولیس اہلکار کا کہنا تھا کہ اس واقعہ کے بعد ہنگو سے پولیس کی بھاری نفری علاقے میں پہنچ گئی اور مختلف راستوں میں ناکے لگا کر تلاشی شروع کر دی۔لیکن تاحال کسی قسم کی گرفتاری عمل میں نہیں آئی ہے۔انہوں نے کہا کہ فائرنگ کرنے والے مسلح لوگ پیدل تھے اور فائرنگ کے بعد فرار ہوگئے ہیں۔
علاقے میں موجود ایک مقامی صحافی نے بی بی سی کو بتایا کہ جمعہ کی صبح آٹھ بجے مسلح افراد نے سکول کے قریب ایک سپیڈ بریکر کے اوپر گاڑی پر فائرنگ کی جس کے نتیجہ میں گاڑی کے ڈرائیور اصغر خان ہلاک جبکہ دو بچے ظفر علی اور فرحان علی زخمی ہوگئے۔انہوں نے کہا کہ بچوں کا تعلق اہل تشیع سے بتایا جاتا ہے جو ایک گاؤں سے سکول جا رہے تھے۔انہوں نے کہا کہ علاقے میں سخت کشیدگی پائی جاتی ہے۔اور اس واقعہ کے بعد تمام راستے غیر اعلانیہ طور پر بند کر دیےگئے ہیں۔
http://www.bbc.co.uk/urdu/pakistan/story/2009/02/090227_schoolbus_attacked_as.shtml
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