132 Schoolchildren Massacred In One Of The Bloodiest Ever Siege By Taliban In Pakistan
Pakistan is mourning as the nation prepares for mass funerals for 141 people, most of them children, killed in a Taliban attack on a military-run school in the country's northwest.
By Sadho Ram — 16 Dec 2014, 04:39 PM — Updated almost 10 years ago
As the world is still trying to fathom the motives behind the siege in a Sydney café that lasted 16 hours and claimed three lives, including that of the perpetrator, on Tuesday, another siege - much more gruesome in nature - unfolded at an elite public school at a Pakistan military installation in Peshawar, 16 December
A mother mourns her son Mohammed Ali Khan, 15, a student who was killed during an attack by Taliban gunmen on the Army Public School.
Image via guim.co.ukMilitants from the Pakistani Taliban sieged an army-run school in Peshawar and killed 141 people, 132 of them were schoolchildren
Pakistani volunteers carry a student injured in the shootout at a school under attack by Taliban gunmen, at a local hospital in Peshawar, Pakistan,Tuesday. A total of 114 people were injured.
Image via bbcimg.co.ukWhile the siege in the north-western city is now over, with all the seven attackers killed, scores of survivors are being treated in hospitals as frantic parents search for news of their children
Women mourn for a student who was killed during an attack by Taliban gunmen on the Army Public School
Image via abcnews.comA spokesman for a faction of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), or Pakistani Taliban, said the attackers had been ordered to shoot older students during the siege, The NYT reported
One of the 132 students who were killed at a school in Peshawar as nine gunmen wreaked havoc with grenades and suicide vests
Image via nyt.comDuring an eight-hour rampage at the Army Public School and Degree College, a team of nine Taliban gunmen stormed through the corridors and assembly hall, firing at random and throwing grenades.
Some of the 1,100 students at the school were lined up and slaughtered with shots to the head. Others were gunned down as they cowered under their desks, or forced to watch as their teachers were riddled with bullets.
Their parents crowded around the school gates, praying their children would survive while listening to the explosions and gunfire as Pakistani commandos stormed the building.
nytimes.com
As per journalists at the scene, they heard heavy gunfire from inside the school as soldiers surrounded it, helicopters hovered overhead and ambulances ferried wounded children to hospital
“We were standing outside the school and firing suddenly started and there was chaos everywhere and the screams of children and teachers,” said Jamshed Khan, a school bus driver.
About 500 students and teachers were believed to be inside at the time, with some taking first aid lessons.
"After half an hour of the attack, the army came and sealed the school," a teacher who escaped told a private television channel.
"We were in the examination hall when the attack took place," he said. "Now the army men are clearing the classes one by one."
A Taliban spokesman says the siege is in response to army ops
The Pakistani Taliban, who are fighting to topple the government and set up a strict Islamic state, have vowed to step up attacks against Pakistani targets in response to a major army operation against the insurgents in the tribal areas.
Pakistani authorities spent Tuesday night inside the school in Peshawar, a city about 120 kilometers from the country's capital, Islamabad, looking for survivors, victims and improvised explosive devices planted to worsen the carnage, The CNN reported
As they searched, they discovered that the school's principal was among the terrorists' victims. The attack drew sharp condemnation from top Pakistani officials, who vowed that the country wouldn't stop its war against the Taliban. "We are undeterred. ... We will not back off," Defense Minister Khawaja Asif told CNN.
But he said the ambush at the school is another example of how great his nation's sacrifices have been in fighting that's raged for more than a decade. "Even the children are dying on the frontline in the war against terror," he said. "The smaller the coffin, the heavier it is to carry. ... It's a very, very tragic day."
A mother mourns her son Mohammed Ali Khan, 15, a student who was killed during the siege by Taliban militants
