School set on fire by suspect Taliban militants
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-12-24 13:46

A primary school in the Afghan southern province of Kandahar was set on fire by suspect Taliban militants Thursday night, said an Afghan official on Friday.

Two suspect Taliban militants crashed into the school of Cholghar village of Panjwayee district of Kandahar last night setting fire to the library, desks and books, Abdul Hakim Angar, an intelligence officer of Kandahar told Xinhua.

Fortunately it took place at night and caused no casualty, he added.

The police began to conduct investigation this morning, so far eight suspect have been arrested, said the officer.

Taliban militants have intensified their attacks against schools in last two weeks. One teacher, a schoolboy and one staff were shot dead in the southern province of Helmand, while an education staff and a school staff were kidnapped and killed the central province of Ghazni.

Afghan president Hamid Karzai has strongly condemned the killing.

"This heinous act of terrorism was aimed at depriving the children of Afghanistan of their rights to education and I condemn it in the strongest terms. The enemies of Afghanistan must understand that their evil acts won't close doors on schools in our country," said the president.

About 1,500 people, with the majority of them Taliban militants, have been killed in the Taliban-linked militancy since the beginning of this year.