Militants blow up school and health unit in Tank

DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Unidentified militants used explosive material to blow up a government middle school and a basic health unit in the Chesan Kech area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Tank district late on Sunday night, local sources said.

The attackers targeted the Government Middle School for Boys and a BHU in the limits of Saddar police station, causing extensive damage to both buildings, according to local sources. No casualties were reported because the buildings were empty when the explosions took place.

Police and security personnel reached the area after the blasts and began an investigation. Officials said evidence was being collected from both sites and efforts were under way to identify those involved in the attack.

The incident comes amid a rise in militant violence in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where civil infrastructure has also come under attack. In March, unidentified miscreants blew up a government school in Bannu district. A month earlier, an explosion damaged parts of a government school in South Waziristan's Birmal tehsil. In January, separate bridges in North Waziristan's Shewa and Mir Ali tehsils were destroyed with explosives, with the Shewa blast cutting off land links with Miranshah, Bannu and nearby areas.