A bomb blast at a school in the Khyber district of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province injured a minimum of four children. The explosion happened on Friday in Jamrud tehsil, an area near the Afghan border. After the incident, security forces responded to the scene and secured the area. The injured students were promptly taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. The cause of the blast remains under investigation.
‘Toy bombs,’ or unexploded mortar shells from previous conflicts, are a recurring hazard in the region. These devices, often found in open areas, can resemble toys to children. In this instance, a fourth-grade student discovered an unexploded mortar shell and brought it into his classroom, leading to the explosion and injuries to other students.
This recent event mirrors previous incidents involving bomb blasts in Pakistan. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa incident resembles a tragic event from last December in Bajaur district, where children were killed. Another incident involved a powerful car bomb detonating outside a Frontier Corps headquarters in Quetta, Balochistan, causing multiple casualties. The affected students were transported to a hospital in Peshawar for treatment and have since been discharged. The area is sealed off, and a search operation is underway to locate and safely dispose of any other unexploded ordnance.