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Taliban seize Bajaur girls' school, name it Jamia Hafsa
Local Taliban seized a government-run girls school and renamed it the Jamia Hafsa, residents and officials said on Wednesday.
Residents said armed men led by local Taliban leader Qari Naimatullah forcibly took control of the school on Tuesday and warned that other female schools in the area would also be seized to teach religious education. We want to convert it into a madrassa, because the Western system of education is not good for girls, Naimatullahs spokesman Ghulam Waheed told AFP. Revenge: We have named it Jamia Hafsa to avenge the attack on the Lal Masjids madrassa, which was razed to the ground during the army operation last year, he said. He criticised the previous government for not rebuilding the madrassa for female students. We will take over other schools also and name them after Jamia Hafsa, he said. More than 100 people died in a weeklong siege and subsequent operation to clear Al Qaeda-linked militants from the Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa in July 2007. The school was badly damaged and later bulldozed. President Pervez Musharraf ordered the military to storm the mosque after a lengthy siege. The raid provoked anger among Islamic militants, particularly in lawless tribal areas along the Afghan border, and sparked an upsurge in deadly violence, including suicide attacks. Bajaur is a stronghold of Taliban militants who have been blamed for a wave of bombings in Pakistan over the last year. The rebels began peace talks with the new government after it came to power in March. Posted by: Fred 2008-06-26 |
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