Suspected motorcycle militants ambushed a vehicle carrying instructors from a private vocational school in northwestern Pakistan on Monday, killing four women and injuring the driver before fleeing, police said. The attack took place in the village of Epi in Mir Ali, a town in the North Waziristan district in a former tribal region bordering Afghanistan, Shafi Ullah Khan Gandapur, a district police chief.
Police said the murdered women were sent to the village by the Bravo Institute of Technology, Peshawar, under an agreement with the Sabawon Pakistan charity. They planned to train 140 residents for skilled professions that would allow them to open their own businesses.
“Is this the way to give someone back for the hard work they did for the poor?” Fayaz Khan, the school’s principal, told NBC News.
Arfan Ullah Marwat, a spokesperson for the Sabawon charity, said the women were not their employees.
Gandapur said the attack could have been avoided if police had received a request for security in an area where militants have been ramping up attacks on troops in recent months.
The injured driver, Abdul Khaliq, said he saw attackers on two motorcycles open fire and then flee. He said he was hired by the Bravo Institute to bring the women from the city of Bannu to the city of Mir Ali and back.
The attack garnered condemnation from social media rights activists, with the most demanding swift action against those responsible.
Pakistani militants have stepped up their activities in the region in recent months, raising fears that they are regrouping in the area, which was a former Taliban stronghold.
Militants also often attack Pakistani forces in the former tribal regions bordering Afghanistan.
The North and South Waziristan districts served as the main base for local and foreign militants until the military secured the regions in 2015.