Two girls were killed and six others, including five children, critically injured when unknown gunmen opened indiscriminate fire on a school van in northwest Pakistan on Thursday, police said.

The attack took place in the Dheri Kot area, which borders both Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab provinces, in the Attock district.

The children were on their way to school when the gunmen indiscriminately opened fire on the school van. While two girls aged between 10 and 11 were killed in the attack, five children and the van driver were critically injured, police said.

Initial findings suggest personal enmity of the driver of the school van as the main reason behind the brutal attack, they said. A case had been registered against a person for his alleged involvement in the attack.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has condemned the attack, calling it a cruel and gruesome act, and expressed solidarity with the bereaved families. He directed the authorities concerned to take stern action against the culprits and to provide the best treatment facilities to the injured children.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has also conveyed his sympathies to the bereaved families.

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