4 students and driver killed in attack on school van in Pak

At least five persons, including four children, were killed when unidentified gunmen attacked a school van carrying students of the minority Shia community at Hangu in northwestern Pakistan on Friday.

At least four boys were killed and five others injured in the attack, state-run APP news agency reported.

TV channels reported that the driver of the van was also killed.

Preliminary reports said the gunmen abducted seven students while fleeing from the scene of the attack. Police have cordoned off the area to trace the attackers.

The incident occurred on the Kohat-Hangu road, which is not used frequently by public transport for security reasons.

Hangu in the North West Frontier Province has become a hotspot for militancy, with several target killings and kidnappings being reported in the past few weeks.

A member of a local peace jirga, Nisarul Haq, was recently kidnapped and killed in the town.

The town, located 175 kilometres from Islamabad, has also been a flashpoint for sectarian violence in the past. Sunni and Shia groups in Hangu signed a peace accord last month after sectarian clashes that left nine persons dead.

First Published: Feb 27, 2009 16:07 IST