Swat protesters throng streets all night, demand arrest of killers

The heirs of a driver who was gunned down yesterday by the firing of unknown persons on a school van in Gulibagh in Charbagh tehsil of Swat continued their protest all night by putting the dead body on road on Tuesday, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

The government negotiating team held talks with the protesters but the parleys failed to bear any fruit. 

The protesters squatted on the road spending all night in the cold. They said they would continue their sit in even for the whole month if authorities did not accept their demands. They said that people would not believe in the false promises made by the authorities. They said they would end their protest only when the killers got arrested. 

Some unknown persons riding on a bike on Monday opened fire on a school van in Gulibagh in Swat killing its driver and injuring two young students. 

“The attacker fled the scene and a search operation has been launched,” police official Ali Badshah told AFP, adding that one of the wounded boys was aged between 10 and 11.

Swat once again is witnessing a sudden rise in militancy and people of the area are protesting against it. 

Several people came out on streets after the yesterday’s incidents in protest. The Private School Management Association (PSMA) also held demonstrations at Nishat Chowk in Mingora, Charbagh and Khwazakhela condemning the incident. They said that security situation had been deteriorating in Swat for the last three months but authorities seemed helpless against the militants. 

Reporter Awais Kurram