Children undeterred by attacks, want education

[Robb]

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=51209">Children Undeterred by Attacks, Want Education

PESHAWAR, Apr 27, 2010 (IPS) - "I don’t feel any fear. My parents do. They instruct me almost every day to stay away from crowded places," said Afaq Ali, a Grade 1 student in this capital city of the militancy-wracked Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan.

Undeterred by an explosion at the Police Public School on Apr. 19, he said no one could stop him from going to school. "Militants must be ashamed of targeting children," Ali said. The militant attack killed one student and wounded 10 others.

(snip)

In 2001 the Taliban came to the Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA) after they were forced to flee Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, by the U.S.- led forces. From there they began sneaking into the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa – which until recently was known as the North-West Frontier Province – and started targeting schools and commercial establishments such as CD and music shops.

FATA lies between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the neighbouring country of Afghanistan. In Swat alone – an administrative district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa – the Taliban destroyed a total of 188 girls’ schools and 97 boys between 2007 and March 2009, displacing some 500,000 students. .....

[SPedigrees]

1. Brave and wise beyond his years. May luck (and/or Allah) go with him. nt

[Robb]

2. Inshallah. nt

[smirkymonkey]

3. That's the whole problem - the more educated they become, the

less likely they are to be militant religious fundamentalists or even believe in Allah at all, making them less easy to control and send out on suicide missions.

[Robb]

4. Kick. nt