Pakistani Militants Bomb 5 Schools in Northwest - ΤΙΜΕ - Ταλιμπάν βομβαρδίζουν 5 σχολεία κοριτσιών στο Πακιστάν

By AP / ZARAR KHAN Monday, Jan. 19, 2009

(ISLAMABAD, Pakistan) — Suspected Taliban militants bombed five schools in Pakistan's Swat valley Monday as part of a campaign against girls' education in the country's lawless northwest.

Militants — who have blown up or burned down more than 170 schools in their campaign — had ordered all girls' schools in the area closed by Jan. 15.

The school attacks are a throwback to conditions in Afghanistan under Taliban rule, when education for girls was banned and most women forced to stay home.

The attacks early Monday morning came hours after government spokeswoman Sherry Rehman vowed that all schools in the area would reopen by the end of the school holidays in March. Schools in the Swat valley, including some 1,600 government-run establishments with a quarter-million students, are closed for the winter vacation until the end of February.

But an association representing 400 private schools for boys and girls in the valley said last week that all of its schools would remain closed after the winter break because of the threat from militants.

A permanent shutdown would threaten education for tens of thousands of students, especially girls.

Dilawar Khan Bangash, the police chief in the troubled valley, said it wasn't immediately clear if Monday's attacks were a direct response to the government's recent pledge, but militants appear to be targeting schools indiscriminately in a bid to prevent them from reopening.

Monday's attacks destroyed three schools for boys and two for girls, Bangash said.

The Swat valley was a major tourist attraction before militants began their anti-government campaign there more than a year ago. The valley lies close to the tribally governed belt along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan where the West worries al-Qaida leaders have found refuge.

Residents complain that the valley's local administration, including the police force, has collapsed over recent months as officials and lawmakers flee in fear. Relief workers say thousands of residents have also moved out of militant-held areas.

Withdraw the British troops from Afghanistan (THE GUARDIAN) An appeal to George Gordon

The Guardian
21/11/2008

Seven years after the supposed liberation of Afghanistan, there is now conclusive evidence that the Nato occupation is a disaster (The errors of Iraq are being repeated - and magnified, November 19). The civilian death toll is mounting. The level of violence is higher than at any time since the invasion in 2001. The UN reports that, under occupation, life expectancy has fallen to 43 years and one in five children die before they reach their fifth birthday. Afghanistan is now fourth from bottom of the UN's league table of development. The mounting violence has caused a refugee crisis and, according to Acbar, the umbrella group of Afghan NGOs, it is making the delivery of aid to the majority of the country impossible. The NGOs warn that there is a very real danger that thousands of Afghans will starve this winter.

The end of the Bush era should be a moment to reassess our foreign policy: 68% of the British public now believe the troops should leave Afghanistan within a year; and 125 British soldiers have already lost their lives in a war that even the UK ambassador to Afghanistan, Sherard Cowper-Coles, has said is unwinnable. We urge Gordon Brown to recognise the facts, respect public opinion and order the withdrawal of British troops.

Nazir Ahmed House of Lords, Julie Bowman Military Families Against the War, Louise Christian human rights lawyer, Jeremy Corbyn MP, George Galloway MP, Lindsey German Convener, Stop the War Coalition, Elfyn Llwyd MP Plaid Cymru UK parliamentary group leader, Rachael Massey Military Families Against the War, Andrew Murray Chair, Stop the War Coalition, Michael Rosen poet & broadcaster, Nitin Sawhney musician, Walter Wolfgang Labour CND