Swat attack: Protesters end sit-in after talks with Pakistan authorities

Family members of a van driver, who was killed in the recent attack on a school bus in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, ended their day-long sit-in on Tuesday after talks with the government.

Armed men opened fire on a school van in Khyber on Monday that killed a driver while injuring two children.

The protesters had been demanding the arrest of the culprits behind the attack and warned of marching to Islamabad if the authorities failed to meet their demands within 24 hours, the Dawn newspaper reported.

The firing took place in Swat's Char Bagh area, a day after the 10th anniversary of the shooting of Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai by the outlawed group TTP, according to Dawn. The police said the incident occurred on Monday outside the Knowledge City School in the Guli Bagh locality, the report said.

One of the protestors who gathered in Swat, on Tuesday, said that the protest was called off after the government promised to arrest the culprits soon.

"The deputy commissioner has promised a shuhada package for the heirs of the driver. He also said that the security of Swat will be beefed up and arrangements will be made to avoid such terror activities in the future," the protestor said.

This incident comes amid concerns over the growing presence of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in the northwest part of the country, following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August.

Earlier on Monday, District Police Officer (DPO) Zahid Marwat told Dawn that there were 15 students inside the vehicle at the time of the attack. Marwat said that the body and injured student have been moved to the Khwazakhela Hospital.

After the news broke, scores of students and teachers of private schools in the Swat district demonstrated against terrorist activities in the region.

Hundreds of protesters, who chanted slogans demanding peace in the region, said the law and order situation in Swat had been deteriorating for the past three months.

A Pakistan-based rights group condemned the "terrorist attack" on a school bus in Swat and said, "Swat's residents are right to hold the security forces responsible for failing to enforce the writ of the state."

"HRCP strongly condemns the terrorist attack on a school bus in Swat, in which the driver was killed and a young girl injured," the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) said in a statement posted on Twitter.

In its statement, the HRCP accused the government of downplaying the threat from militants.