Catholic girls' school latest casualty of violence in Pakistan

A Catholic-run girls' school in Swat, North-West Frontier Province, was bombed on Tuesday by Pakistani Taliban.

The Convent Girls' School in Sangota, Swat, was bombed by local Taliban, and the school building destroyed, according to the Catholic Church's National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP).

No one was killed because the school, run by Sri Lankan Apostolic Carmelite Sisters, was closed at the time due to threats, and the sisters had vacated the convent.

In the past two years, more than 150 girls' schools have been attacked in the North-West Frontier Province by Pakistani Taliban, the NCJP claims.

Bomb threats are also occurring regularly in Pakistan's major cities, including Islamabad and Lahore. Last night, three bombs were detonated among fruit juice shops in a shopping area in Ghari Shau, Lahore.

CSW's sources in Pakistan have described the general situation as verging on becoming "a war zone".

Group Captain (Rtd) Cecil Chaudhry, Executive Secretary of the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance, said: "These are absolutely senseless attacks aimed simply at spreading fear and terror into the hearts and minds of people. The victims are ordinary people, many from poor backgrounds. We appeal to the international community for support for the people of Pakistan at this time."

Alexa Papadouris, Advocacy Director at CSW, said: "We have very grave and deep concerns about the current instability and violence in Pakistan. We wish to offer our sincere condolences to the victims of terrorism.

"We call on the international community to take the crisis in Pakistan extremely seriously, and to work with the new Government of Pakistan to bring an end to terrorism in the country."