DHAKA: A bomb wounded 11 people, mostly children, when it exploded outside a Pakistani girls’ school on Thursday, a doctor said.

The bomb went off at the end of the school day as pupils walked into a street lined with fabric shops in the northwestern town of Bannu, which has been a flashpoint for Islamist militancy.

Doctor Omar Zeb told media that 11 people had been brought to the local hospital, seven primary schoolgirls and four other people who had been outside in the street, reports daily Hurriyet.

Police official Azad Khan told media that at least four girls, two boys and a man had been wounded. Three of them are in serious condition he said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but Islamist militants frequently attack girls’ schools, usually when the buildings are empty in the evening or during the holidays.

BDST: 1521 HRS, SEPT 05, 2013
RoR/Jck