Takfiri terrorists have gunned down at least seven teachers at a rural high school in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province.
The incident occurred on Thursday in the Parachinar area of the Kurram tribal district, which is located less than one kilometer away from Pakistan's border with Afghanistan, Pakistani officials said.
Today, in Parachinar, seven school teachers belonging to the Shia community were brutally murdered. The international community must take action to ensure the safety of Shias in Pakistan. We have lost hope in our security agencies as they are more focused on politics than on… pic.twitter.com/cdlDLt1HwB
— Syed Zaighum Kazmi (@syedzaighum110) May 4, 2023
Detailing the incident, witnesses said that two gunmen had entered the school as teachers were monitoring an exam.
"Teachers were arranging and compiling the papers when the gunmen entered the school," said Amir Nawaz, a senior government official in the area.
According to Pakistan's Samaa TV satellite news channel, the victims belonged to the local Toori Bangash tribe.
#ShiaGenocide continues in Pakistan as the terrorists of banned SSP/ LeJ shot 7 shia teachers dead in Upper Karam Para Chinar. The teachers were performing duty in a local high school. They were identified as Shias and killed due to their shia faith.#parachinar pic.twitter.com/KKkONodc4L
— Gul Zehra Rizvi (@GulZehraRizvi1) May 4, 2023
"An emergency was imposed in hospitals" and "transport routes across the district were closed due to security concerns" following the atrocity, the channel reported on its website.
Local police said they were gathering more information as they investigated the incident.
Pakistani President Arif Alvi has decried the deadly violence, saying, "The attack on teachers by the enemies of knowledge is condemnable."
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also strongly condemned the incident, while federal minister Sajid Hussain Turi asserted, "Strict action should be taken against the elements involved in the incident."
"The state cannot afford to ignore rising #militancy in KP (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) when even schools are once again falling prey to wanton violence," said the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.
Also on Thursday, officials said six soldiers had been killed in clashes with suspected militants belonging to the Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) -- an umbrella group of several militant groups -- in north Waziristan, another part of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province.