ISLAMABAD (Kashmir English): Today, on December 16, Pakistan marks the 11th anniversary of one of the deadliest terrorist attacks on the Army Public School (APS) located in Peshawar, where more than 140 people lost their lives, including 134 innocent children.
On 16 Dec, 2014, the APS school was stormed by six terrorists of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) who brutally martyred the staff members, including teachers and innocent students.
It was the deadliest attack in the country’s history. The attack led to an all-out war between the government and the terrorists. In response to this attack, military tribunals were established for trying terrorists based on an amendment brought about in the country’s Constitution and the Army Act.
PM Shehbaz Message
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, on Tuesday, paid tribute to the martyrs of the Army Public School Peshawar tragedy, reiterated his government’s resolve to maintain an uncompromising zero-tolerance stance on terrorism and continue relentless and full force anti-terror operations till the elimination of the scourge.
The prime minister, in his message on the APS attack anniversary, said that the great sacrifices rendered for Pakistan’s bright future would never go in vain as the state, security institutions, and the people stood united and determined to eliminate terrorism and extremism.
Today, we pay tribute to the martyrs of the Army Public School Peshawar tragedy, who sacrificed their precious lives for the future of our beloved homeland. This heart-wrenching incident was a great ordeal for the entire nation, which deeply saddened us but failed to break our resolve,” he remarked.
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What actually happened in the APS Attack?
The Pakistan military confirmed that the six militants who took part in the attack had all been executed. Soon after the attack, the military courts awarded death penalties to 310 militants.
The ring-leader responsible for the APS attack, Umar Mansour, alias Khalifa Mansour and later alias Umar Naray, was eliminated in a drone attack in Afghanistan.
It has been eleven years since, despite a National Action Plan on Counter-Terrorism, which was outlined days after the APS attack, a soft target in some areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa still exists.
This massacre altered perception for a Pakistani stand against terrorism, and people in this nation started demanding a uniform response for all forms of militancy.
This was followed by the establishment of the National Action Plan by political parties and the security organizations in response to the attack and the rise of extremism and terrorism.
Later, the Pakistani parliament unanimously passed a resolution for the setting up of military tribunals to try the hardcore terrorists.
It is pertinent to mention that the terrorists started their assaults in the middle of the morning of December 16, 2014, when they climbed the wall of the school compound. At that moment, there were more than 1,000 students and school staff in the school, including the children of military officials.
They bombed their own car to distract the school guards. They stormed into the main assembly hall where a crowd of students was undergoing a first aid class, and began firing indiscriminately. The militants, who were wielding automatic guns and hand grenades, then moved into various classrooms, targeting teachers and older schoolboys.
