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Taliban accused of deliberately setting fire to a school in Panjshir

Sources in Panjshir province’s Hesa-e-Awal district have told KabulNow that the Taliban forces in the area set fire to a boys’ school after the locals demanded they leave the building which the group had been using as a military base.

A source said the local community had asked the Taliban to leave the school so that students could return, but the group’s forces set explosive devices inside the school and set it on fire.

The sources added that the locals had been trying for weeks to pressure the Taliban to surrender the school to the education department.

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At around 7am on Monday, explosions were heard from school and a column of smoke rose from it.

But local Taliban officials, according to a source, told members of the community that the fire had started from a gas explosion and some of their ammunition.

However, the locals claim that the Taliban deliberately set the school on fire.