Protest over killing of Swat school van driver enters second day

• Protesters say demonstration will continue till culprits are brought to justice.
• They say terrorist attacks and unrest in province are intolerable.
• "We want peace in the region and we will fight terrorism," demand protesters. 

SWAT: The relatives of the slain van driver continued their protest on Tuesday for the second consecutive day after the attack on a school bus killed their family member.

The protesters said that the demonstration will continue till the culprits are brought to justice.

They said that the terrorist attacks and the unrest in the province are intolerable. "We want peace in the region and we will fight terrorism," said the protesters. 

Residents of Mingora, the city where the attack took place, fear it was carried out by the Pakistani Taliban but the militants have denied responsibility for Monday's shooting.

"People are angry and they are protesting. Students from all the private schools came out to protest," Ahmad Shah, principal of a private school told AFP, adding that schools would remain closed on Tuesday.

A day earlier, an armed assailant fired at a school van, killing the van driver and injuring one student who was sitting in the front seat with the driver. This sparked protests by the relatives and neighbours of the victim who demanded justice. 

The police claimed that the driver was attacked after which a search operation was also carried out.

A case has been registered against unidentified men for attacking the school bus. 

Monday's attack comes a day after the 10th anniversary of the shooting of Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) when she was a schoolgirl.

Imran wants power amid KP's chaotic situation: Khawaja Asif

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said PTI Chairman Imran Khan is claiming that he should be returned to power at a time when there is complete chaos in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the law and order situation is deteriorating. 

He was speaking at the National Assembly where Federal Minister Mian Javed Latif and JI's Maulana Abdul Akbar Chitrali expressed concern over the law and order situation in the province.

Referring to the attack on the school bus, Asif said: "The way the educationists have been treated only a day before is very regrettable."

The minister also suggested that the National Assembly debate the KP law and order situation. 

Meanwhile, Maulana Chitrali expressed concern over the incidents of target killings and murders in the province.

— Additional information from AFP