2014 Peshawar school attack:
On 16 December 2014, seven members of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) conducted a terrorist attack on the Army Public School in the Pakistani city of Peshawar. They entered the school and opened fire on school staff and children,[8][9] killing 145 people, including 132 school children, ranging between eight and eighteen years of age.[10][11] A rescue operation was launched by the Pakistan Army's Special Services Group (SSG) special forces, who killed all seven terrorists and rescued 960 people.[9][12][13] Chief military spokesman Major General Asim Bajwa said in a press conference that at least 130 people had been injured in the attack.[8]
This was the deadliest terrorist attack ever to occur in Pakistan, surpassing the 2007 Karachi bombing.[14] According to various news agencies and commentators, the nature and preparation of the attack was very similar to that of the Beslan school hostage crisis that occurred in the North Ossetia–Alania region of Russia in 2004.
Attack:
The attack began at around 10:00 a.m. when six gunmen,[3] dressed in uniforms of the Pakistani paramilitary force, the Frontier Corps,[8] entered the school from the back through a cemetery adjacent to the school[8] after having scaled the walls. Army Public School is located at Warsak Road near the Peshawar Cantt, and is part of Army Public Schools and College Systems that runs 146 schools in Pakistan.[3] Before entering the school, the gunmen set fire to the Suzuki Bolan ST41 van in which they had arrived. The terrorists, bearing automatic weapons, moved straight toward the auditorium located at the centre of the complex and opened fire indiscriminately on the children who were gathered there for a school function.[22] According to the Director General of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the public relations department of the Pakistani military, Major-General Asim Bajwa, the terrorists did not intend to take any hostages but instead wanted to kill as many pupils as they could. As the terrorists opened fire, many of the pupils ran toward the two exits on the other side of the auditorium, but many of them were gunned down in the garden.
Reports also surfaced that pupils were forced to watch teachers, including principal Tahira Kazi, being burned alive before them.[23] Within 5–7 minutes, the SSG teams had stormed the school and entered in the premises from two sides in their heavy armoured vehicles and trucks. Immediately, the SSG personnel engaged with the terrorists that prevented them going after and killing other remaining teaching staff and students. The gunmen moved to the administration block of the school and took hostages there. One of them was shot by the military personnel near the auditorium, while the other six managed to make it to the administration block.[24] The emergency trauma teams, and units of the Army Medical Corps in military armoured vehicles were rushed to the school, military police corps and civilian police worked toward closing any ways for terrorists to escape.
Meanwhile, the SSG commandos had reached the area and surrounded the administration block. Most of the operation took place in the attempt to clear this block and rescue the hostages taken by the gunmen. Special teams of snipers and their spotters pin-pointed the terrorists; three out of six attackers were killed by the snipers from the windows and air vents, while the other three were killed when the commandos stormed the building and rescued many hostages in the process. Seven commandos, including two officers, were injured in the battle. A search and clearance operation was started immediately to defuse any IEDs planted by the gunmen within the school premises or in the suicide vests that the terrorists were wearing.[24].
Casualties
A total of ~1,099 pupils and teaching staff were present on the school premises, of whom responding forces were successful in rescuing ~960, though 121 were injured. A total of 145 people, including 132 children, ten school staff members, and three soldiers were killed in the terrorist attack. Report says most of children's were shot in the head.[10][11]The provincial Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa announced PKR 500,000 (US$5,000) as compensation to the kin of each of those deceased in the terror attack and PKR 200,000 (US$2,000) to the seriously injured.
Responsibility
The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack, describing it as revenge for Operation Zarb-e-Azb, the Pakistani military's military offensive in North Waziristan that started in summer 2014.[22] The attack is believed to have been in retaliation for the Malala's Nobel Peace award.[26][27]TTP spokesman Muhammad Omar Khorasani said that "we targeted the school because the Army targets our families. We want them to feel our pain."[28] "Our six fighters successfully entered the Army school and we are giving them instructions from outside," said Khorasani by phone.[29] Khorasani also said "Our suicide bombers have entered the school, they have instructions not to harm the children, but to target the Army personnel. It's a revenge attack for the Army offensive in North Waziristan."[30][31] According to the Pakistani Federal Investigation Agency or FIA's early investigations, the group was led by the terrorist, Abu Shamil who planned the attacks, accompanied by three Arabs and two Afghans who spoke Pashto and were from Eastern Afghanistan.[32]
On 18 December 2014, a video was released by TTP on their website showing a man named Umar Mansoor revealing that he is the mastermind behind the Peshawar School attack.
Watch Video
Exclusive - Video of Army School Auditorium few... by Hassnain Ali(Soul Hacker 786)
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