The alleged 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, according to police. 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, said Shafi Ullah Khan Gandapur, the district police chief.
Police said the dead women were sent to the village by the Bravo Institute of Technology, Peshawar, under an agreement with the charity Sabawon Pakistan. They planned to train 140 residents for skilled occupations that would allow them to open their own businesses.
“Is this the way to give back to someone for the work they did for the poor?” Fayaz Khan, the school’s chief executive, told NBC News.
Arfan Ullah Marwat, a spokesman for the charity Sabawon, said the women were not his employees.
Gandapur said the attack could have been avoided if police had received a security request in an area where militants have intensified attacks on troops in recent months.
The injured driver, Abdul Khaliq, said he saw assailants of two motorcycles open fire and then flee. She said she was hired by the Bravo Institute to bring women from Bannu city to Mir Ali city and back.
The attack was condemned by rights activists on social media, with swift and demanding action against those responsible.
Pakistani militants have intensified their activities in the region in recent months, and have feared regrouping in the area, which was a former Taliban stronghold.
Militants also often attack Pakistani troops in the former tribal regions bordering Afghanistan.
The districts of North and South Waziristan served as the main base for local and foreign militants until the military secured the regions in 2015.