Taliban blows up girls school in Khyber agency

Continuing their campaign against girls education, the Taliban blew up a girl's school in Pakistan's restive Khyber tribal region, on Monday, where two soldiers and 10 militants were killed in ongoing operations against the banned radical Lashkar-e-Islam group. 

The terrorists who had rigged the primary school premises with explosives in Landi Kotal sub-division of Khyber Agency set them off pre-dawn on Monday destroying all the rooms, but caused no injuries. Islamist militants opposed to girls and co-education have torched hundreds of schools in the North West Frontier Province, mostly of girls in the past two years as they have waged a 'jihad' to enforce Shariah law.

Pakistani security forces have launched an operation against the Lashkar-i-Islam group led by warlord Mangal Bagh. In fighting in Orakzai tribal belt, two soldiers and 10 militants were killed in clashes on Sunday in which the army used helicopter gunships. According to intelligence reports, many Taliban who have escaped from South Waziristan have taken shelter in the autonomous tribal belt.