Man killed in school van attack in northwest Pakistan

Armed men opened fire on a school van in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Monday that killed a driver while injuring a child.

This incident comes amid concerns over the growing presence of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in the northwest part of the country, following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August.

The firing took place in Swat's Char Bagh area, a day after the 10th anniversary of the shooting of Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai by the outlawed group TTP, the Dawn newspaper reported.

The police said the incident occurred on Monday outside the Knowledge City School in the Guli Bagh locality, the report said.

District Police Officer (DPO) Zahid Marwat told Dawn that there were 15 students inside the vehicle at the time of the attack. Marwat said that the body and injured student have been moved to the Khwazakhela Hospital.

After the news broke, scores of students and teachers of private schools in the Swat district demonstrated against terrorist activities in the region.

Hundreds of protesters, who chanted slogans demanding peace in the region, said the law and order situation in Swat had been deteriorating for the past three months. "We know who is behind the current drama. We know why the security forces are helpless against a few so-called terrorists," a protester was quoted as saying by Dawn.

A Pakistan-based rights group condemned the "terrorist attack" on a school bus in Swat and said, "Swat's residents are right to hold the security forces responsible for failing to enforce the writ of the state."

"HRCP strongly condemns the terrorist attack on a school bus in Swat, in which the driver was killed and a young girl injured," the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) said in a statement posted on Twitter.

In its statement, the HRCP accused the government of downplaying the threat from militants.

"While the perpetrators must be brought to book promptly, the state must also stop ceding space to extremists - a lesson it has consistently failed to learn at the expense of its people," the group added.