Peshawar, March 26 Unidentified armed men bombed a government girls' school in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, on Thursday, police said.
The incident took place in the village of Ghora, in the Baka Khel area of Bannu district, which borders northern Waziristan.
The attackers are believed to have planted explosive material inside the Government Primary School, Noor Jan Baka Khel. The powerful blast completely destroyed the school building, police said.
Security forces have cordoned off the area and launched a search operation to identify those involved.
No group has claimed responsibility for the bombing so far.
However, smaller groups of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) that operate in the Tank district are known to oppose education for girls and frequently target such institutions.
According to data collected by local NGOs, over 450 schools in the province have been destroyed in similar attacks over the past decade, forcing students to either abandon their education or attend classes amidst ruins and rubble.
In another incident on Thursday, a civilian was killed and three personnel from the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) were injured when unidentified gunmen opened fire in the Safi tehsil area of the Mohmand district, which borders Afghanistan.
Mohmand District Police Officer Raza Muhammad and the Superintendent of Police visited the hospital in Ghalanai to monitor the medical facilities and check on the injured, who were later transferred to another facility.
The attackers fled after the shooting incident, police said.
