Militants have blown up a boys’ school in Pakistan’s northwest tribal region bordering Afghanistan, the latest in a wave of attacks destroying educational institutes, according to officials.

“A 22-room government high school in Nawagi village of Bajaur district was blown up with explosives,” said local administration official Ghulam Saidullah.

“Eighteen classrooms were completely destroyed in the bombing.”

Islamist militants opposed to co-education have destroyed hundreds of schools, mostly for girls, in the northwest of the country in recent years as they wage a fierce insurgency to enforce sharia law.

Local tribal police and intelligence officials also confirmed the incident and said no casualties were reported.

Pakistan’s tribal belt has become a stronghold for hundreds of Islamist extremists who fled Afghanistan after a US-led invasion toppled the hardline Taliban regime in late 2001.

Security forces launched a huge operation against the militants in Bajaur in August 2008. In February 2009, they claimed the area had been cleared, but unrest has rumbled on and military raids have continued.

On Tuesday, the army said it killed two militants in ongoing operations in the Taliban bastion of South Waziristan, while three insurgents were killed in the Swat valley.

Under pressure from Washington to do more to crush extremist sanctuaries along the frontier, Pakistan poured tens of thousands of troops into South Waziristan last October in an attempt to oust Taliban fighters.

The offensive followed a decisive operation in Swat, which largely cleared the northwest district of Taliban fighters after a two-year uprising.

– AFP