A group of militants ambushed a van Wednesday as it was traveling near Khar, the main town in the Bajaur tribal region, killing two women teachers and wounding two other passengers. Approximately 10 militants hid on both sides of a rural road and sprayed the van with automatic weapons as it went past, said a local official Adalat Khan. The fighters then fled on motorcycles. Pakistan's Taleban fighters are deeply opposed to modern education, particularly for girls, and have blown up schools and attacked teachers across the country. “This is an alarming sign,” said Fazal Rabi, a senior official with Bajaur's tribal police force. Despite a spate of recent attacks, the government insists Bajaur has been free of militants since it forced them out in an offensive earlier this year.
