Another Taliban Attack on Female Students

Pakistani Taliban Target Female Students with Acid Attack

        The Pakistani Taliban has performed yet another cruel attack. This information was received from CNN's website under World News. Previously, I wrote about the attack on Malala Yousufzai, a 15 year old girl advocating for the rights of girls to attend school. The Pakistani Taliban is attempting to eliminate female education in their country, which led to the shooting to Malala Yousufzai and two other teenage girls. Now, the Taliban has attacked again. This time, their tactic was to throw acid in the faces of girls and women. The Taliban hoped to scar their faces and in return, deter other girls and women from following in their footsteps to attend school.

This most recent attack occurred in the city of Parachinar in northern Pakistan. Fifteen male and female students were on a college van heading home from Kohat University. However, the van was stopped by unknown "extremists", later identified as the Pakistani Taliban. Acid was thrown at the girls and one of the male students was shot. Three students were affected by the acid. Two girls and one boy were badly burned. 

The Pakistani Taliban took responsibility for the attack. Additionally, they handed out threatening pamphlets around Parachinar that warned girls not to attend school. Females were threatened by future acid attacks if they did not obey the Taliban's demand. The local Pakistani Talibam leader, Qari Muhavia, stated that any girls found going to school would be targeted with acid so that she would never be able to unveil her face. In the past, Pakistani's used acid attacks against those who brought dishonor to the family. 

I chose this event because Pakistan is having recurrent attacks against women wanting and receiving an education. It is important to be informed on this issue especially because of the Taliban involvement. The Pakistani Taliban continually tries to impose their views on women in their society. They attack and scare women away from gaining knowledge and independence. It is important to note the dangerousness of the Taliban and how to protect girls and women from these future attacks.