PESHAWAR: Khyber-Pakhtunkwa (K-P) Police Inspector-General Moazzam Jah Ansari said on Thursday that the recent firing incident on a school van in Swat was not an act of terrorism but was a result of honour killing.
At a press conference, the K-P police chief claimed that the van driver was killed by his brother-in-law who carried out the act with the help of his accomplice.
The top cop said that a suspect has been arrested and raids were under way to arrest two more suspects allegedly linked to school van firing.
He said that the mountains of Swat have been cleared off of terrorists and the scenic valley will return to its former splendors within two to three months.
He added that a snow festival will also be held soon in Swat.
On October 10, the driver of a school van was killed and two students were injured when unknown assailants opened fire on the vehicle in Swat’s Guli Bagh village.
Police said that two assailants riding motorcycles escaped from the crime scene after committing the crime.
The incident led to growing insecurity concerns and subsequent protests in the area, with thousands of people taking to the streets to demand the arrest of the culprits.
The K-P police chief’s statement comes after the National Security Committee in a meeting on Friday vowed to respond firmly to resurgence of terrorism in K-P and agreed on a plan to revitalize the counterterrorism apparatus.
The meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and attended by ministers, services chiefs, and intelligence chiefs, was convened in the wake of protests in Swat over the school van incident.
