Pakistan Gunmen Attack School Van, Kill 2 Girls
DeadlyPakistan attacksGunmen inAttack PakistanSchool Van, Kill 2 Girls
The Facts
Two girls died and six others were injured Thursday after gunmen reportedly opened fire at a school van in Attock town of Pakistan's Punjab province.
The police said the gunmen had attacked the van's driver over an ongoing legal dispute with his family but ended up killing the girls aged 10 and 11.
The Spin
Violence, particularly the terrorism-fuelled kind, has profoundly impacted Pakistan's children over the decades. Besides causing countless deaths, it has displaced them and forced them into unstable, dangerous living conditions. Attendant malaises like health risks, malnutrition, and psychological trauma have only worsened their plight. Violence has robbed Pakistan's children of lives and a normal childhood.
Thursday's tragic killing of two innocent children in Pakistan comes amid a surge in violent attacks in the country, fuelled by intensified political friction. Worsening dynamics between the military and the country's various militant groups are causing widespread societal instability. And as usual, the victims mostly are the innocent, including children and women.
