On 16 December 2014, six gunmen affiliated with the Tehrik-i-Taliban (TTP) conducted a terrorist attack on the Army Public School in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar. The militants, all of whom were foreign nationals, included one Chechen, three Arabs and two Afghans. They entered the school and opened fire on school staff and children,[6][8] killing 149 people including 132 schoolchildren, ranging between eight and eighteen years of age making it the world's second deadliest school massacre.[9][10] A rescue operation was launched by the Pakistan Army's Special Services Group (SSG) special forces, who killed all six terrorists and rescued 960 people.[6][11][12]
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 the Russian Federation in 2004.[13][14][15][16][17]
Pakistan responded to the attacks by lifting its moratorium on the death penalty, intensifying the War in North-West Pakistan and authorizing military courts to try civilians through a constitutional amendment. On 2 December 2015, Pakistan hanged four militants involved in the Peshawar massacre,[18] whereas the mastermind of the attack, Omar Khorasani, was killed in a drone strike in eastern Afghanistan on 18 October 2017. The Supreme Court of Pakistan upheld the death sentences of two more convicts involved in the attack in the Said Zaman Khan v. Federation of Pakistan case on 29 August 2016.[19]
Attack
he attack began at around 10:30 A.M. when six gunmen,[3] wearing explosive belts 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,and grenades, moved straight toward the auditorium located at the centre of the complex and opened fire indiscriminately on the children who were gathered there for First aid training.[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 Qazi, killed in front of them. Within 15 minutes, the SSG teams had stormed the school and entered the premises from two sides in their heavy armoured vehicles and trucks. Immediately, the SSG personnel engaged the terrorists, preventing them from 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 five managed to make it to the administration block. The emergency trauma teams, and units of the Army Medical Corps in military armoured vehicles were rushed to the school, Army Corps of Military Police and the provincial civilian Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police (KP Police) worked toward closing off any potential escape routes for the terrorists.
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 pinpointed the terrorists; three of the 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 the remaining 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. The terrorists were in contact with their handlers during the attack, but soon after the SSG had moved in, the security forces intercepted the terrorists' communications. "We know who they are and who they were in contact with but details can not be shared due to operation reasons. They were aware of locations and they must have carried out the recon of the area. And it is highly possible that someone from inside might have tipped them off." said Bajwa
Causes
An estimated total of 1,099 pupils and teaching staff were present on the school premises. Responding forces were successful in rescuing approximately 960, though 121 were injured. More than 150 people were killed, including 134 children and school staff members.
The provincial Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa announced PKR 2,000,000 (US$20,000 approx.) as compensation to the kin of each of the deceased in the terror attack and PKR 200,000 (US$2,000 approx.) to the seriously injured.[23]
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