The government of Gilgit-Baltistan on Monday decided that classes will resume on September 1 at all schools of Diamer district, including those attacked by extremists last week.

"The government has decided to reopen the educational institutions to defeat the terrorists," GB government spokesperson Faizullah Faraq told DawnNewsTV.

The government has directed officials of the schools and education department to show up to their jobs immediately, he said, adding that work will commence in 2-3 days to repair the schools that were targeted.

According to the spokesperson, routine activities in Diamer that were hindered by the violence of last few days have resumed today.

Violence had erupted in the serene valley of Diamer on Friday when extremists opposing girls’ education set fire to more than a dozen schools. One of the girls’ schools had been torched at least five times in recent years.

A grand operation was launched in the area to trace and arrest the culprits following the decision of a meeting attended by senior officials of security forces, law enforcement agencies, civil administration as well as locals. Later a police official was martyred and another official was wounded in an exchange of fire with armed men during a raid on a house in Tanger tehsil.

On Sunday, a judge going to attend the martyred police constable's funeral had escaped unhurt in a gun attack. However, the armed men who were hiding in the mountains continued to attack police and other government vehicles to stop them from using the roads leading to Tanger and Darel tehsils of Diamer district. Even locals faced difficulties in passing through the area.

Police said the prime suspect allegedly involved in the torching of girls schools, Shafiq, was killed in Tanger on Sunday. However, sources told Dawn said the suspect was killed allegedly by the relatives of the policeman who had been attacked during the raid on a house on Saturday.