Parents bury children after Taliban school attack
Pakistan woke up to a day of mourning on Wednesday 17th December after Taliban militants killed students at a school in the city of Peshawar
148 people were killed in the attack on the military-run Army Public School, which includes 123 male students, as well as nine staff members, including a female teacher. Many of the children are those of military officers.
The country’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has announced three day of mourning but people’s anxiety focused on what the authorities can do to protect them.
The grisly attack, which has shocked the nation has put imminent pressure on the government to do more to tackle the insurgency.
Pakistanis waited to see what their government – long accused of not being tough enough on the Islamists – and the army would do to stem spiralling violence in a nation which has become a safe haven for al Qaeda-linked groups.
Seeking to appear decisive, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif announced he had lifted a moratorium on the death penalty in response to the massacre.
The focus was on Army Chief Raheel Sharif’s visit to Afghanistan where the two sides, their relationship strained after decades of mistrust, were due to discuss how to crack down together on militants hiding on their common border.
People around Pakistan lit candles and staged vigils as parents buried their children during mass funerals in and around Peshawar – a volatile city on the edge of Pakistan’s lawless tribal belt.
Pakistanis may be used to almost daily attacks on security forces but an outright assault on children stunned the country, prompting commentators to call for a tough military response.
In all, 148 people were killed in the attack on the military-run Army Public School.
The school’s sprawling grounds were all but deserted on Wednesday, with a handful of snipers manning the roofs of its pink brick-and-stone buildings.
Army vehicles and soldiers wearing face masks and carrying automatic rifles were deployed by the entrance.
A news agency tour of the school revealed a place shattered by hours of fighting, its floor slick with blood and walls pockmarked with bullet holes. Classrooms were filled with abandoned school bags, mobile phones and broken chairs.
One wall was smashed where a suicide bomber blew himself up, blood splattered across it. His body parts were piled nearby on a white cloth. The air was thick with the smell of explosives and flesh.
A day after the attack, Peshawar appeared subdued and many people were still in shock. More details of the well-organised attack emerged as witnesses came forward with accounts.
It’s believed the attackers came around 10:30 am on 16th December on a pick-up van and drove it around the back of the school and set it on fire to block the way. Then they went to one of the school gates and killed a soldier, a gatekeeper and a gardener before the first suicide attack took place.
Sharif came power last year promising to negotiate peace with the Taliban – but those efforts failed this year, weakening his position and prompting the army to launch an air-and-ground operation against insurgents along the Afghan border.
The military staged more air strikes there late on Tuesday in response to the school attack, security sources said, but it was unclear what the target was.
Despite the well-publicised crackdown, the military itself has been accused of being too lenient towards militants who critics say are used to carry out the army’s bidding in places like the disputed Kashmir region and Afghanistan.
The military denies the accusations.
