3 days of mourning in Pakistan as global leaders condemn attack

PESHAWAR — Pakistan woke up to a day of mourning yesterday after Taliban militants killed 132 students at a school in the city of Peshawar in a grisly attack that shocked the nation and put pressure on the government to do more to tackle the insurgency.

Pakistanis waited to see what their government — accused of not being tough enough on the Islamists — and the army would do to stem spiralling violence in a nation that 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. This is seen to counter a prevailing view in the country that many terror suspects evade justice.

The government also declared three days of official mourning and the national flag was lowered to half-mast.

The focus, however, 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.

Pakistan has long contended that the leader of the Pakistani Taliban, Maulana Fazlullah, is hiding in the mountainous eastern Afghan provinces of Kunar and Nuristan. The army chief is expected to seek Kabul’s help in handing him and his men over.

Condolences poured in from around the world. Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong yesterday wrote a condolence letter to Mr Sharif. “Singapore strongly condemns this dastardly act of terror which has killed so many innocent young people. I was deeply saddened to learn that many of these victims were students, who were seeking an education to better their lives. It is a painful reminder of why we are fighting against the terrorist cause, and why we must remain vigilant and resolute in this long battle.”

Foreign Minister K Shanmugam also posted a message on Facebook that said: “To target innocent children is abhorrent and cowardly. I can’t understand what can make people kill innocent people. Many of us will share the anguish of the families affected and my heart goes out to them”.

The United States condemned the horrific attack, with President Barack Obama pledging continued support for Pakistan’s efforts to combat terrorism and extremism and to promote peace and stability in the region.

Mr Obama added that by targeting students and teachers in this heinous attack, terrorists have once again shown their depravity. In all, 145 people were killed in the attack on the military-run Army Public School.

The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for the attack as retaliation for a major military offensive in the region, saying militants had been ordered to shoot older students. “We selected the army’s school ... because the government is targeting our families and females,” said Taliban spokesman Muhammad Umar Khorasani. “We want them to feel the pain.”

Mr Sharif came to 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 on Tuesday in response to the attack, security sources said, but it was unclear what the target was.

“People will have to stop equivocating and come together in the face of national tragedy,” said Ms Sherry Rehman, a former ambassador to the US and an opposition politician.“There have been national leaders who’ve been apologetic about the Taliban, who have not named the Taliban.”

The Pakistani Taliban, which is fighting to impose strict Islamic rule in Pakistan, are holed up in mountains straddling the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. They are allied with the Afghan Taliban as well as Al Qaeda and other foreign fighters, and Pakistan has long accused Afghanistan of not doing enough to crack down on their bases.

Afghanistan, for its part, blames Pakistan for allowing militant groups such as the Afghan Taliban and Haqqani Network to operate freely on its territory. AGENCIES