Girls' School Bombed in Pakistan

A Pakistani middle school for girls was bombed late last night near Peshawar, which is in the northern region bordering Afghanistan. No one was injured in the bombing, but reports indicate that the attack completely destroyed the girls' school building. According to officials, this is the third school bombing this month in the Peshawar region.

Local official Farooq Khan told Agence France Presse that "the girls' middle school was badly damaged because of the explosion, now the school building is almost out of use. The classrooms, desks and chairs were also damaged."

In Taliban-controlled areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan, violence against schools that educate girls has been part of campaigns against the education of women. In Pakistan's Swat Valley, more than 130 primarily all girl schools have been destroyed in the past year, allegedly by the Taliban. In total, hundreds of schools have been destroyed in Pakistan's northwest region over the past several years. During the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, which lasted until 2001, Afghan girls were forbidden to attend school. To date, approximately 1,000 girls' or co-educational schools have been bombed or burned in Afghanistan.

Media Resources: Agence France Presse 11/17/09; China Daily 11/17/09; Feminist Daily Newswire 9/22/09

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