A group of armed men burns a girls’ school in northwest Pakistan, in third such attack this month

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan (AP) — A group of armed men used kerosene to set fire to a girls’ school in a former Pakistani Taliban stronghold, destroying furniture, computers and books, police said Wednesday, in the latest in a series of such attacks.

No one was hurt in the overnight attack in North Waziristan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, local police official Rehmat Ullah said. Two other girls’ schools in the region were bombed earlier this month.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks. Police said they suspect the involvement of a man who recently had a dispute with the owner of the school and are seeking to arrest him.

Authorities had earlier suspected militants, who targeted girls’ schools years ago, saying that women should not be educated.

North Waziristan is a former stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban, who are also known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan. It is a separate group but a close ally of the Afghan Taliban, who seized power in neighboring Afghanistan in 2021. The Taliban’s takeover in Afghanistan has emboldened the Pakistani Taliban.