A school teacher in Swat accidentally shot dead a 12-year-old pupil on Thursday while cleaning his pistol in the staff room.
Teachers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province were given permission to carry firearms in the classroom after Taliban militants massacred more than 140 students at a school in Peshawar in December.
Thursday’s deadly incident happened on the outskirts of Mingora.
“Majid Khan, a teacher at the private Sangota Model School was cleaning his pistol in the staff room when it fired a bullet by accident, hitting a student passing through the corridor,” local police official Fazl Rabi told reporters. He said the student died on the spot.
Saleem Khan Marwat, the area police chief, confirmed the incident and said the teacher had been arrested.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province allowed teachers to carry guns — and began giving them firearms training — in January, saying it could not provide police guards for every school.
