Peshawar, Dec 17 (Reuters): Pakistan woke up to a day of mourning on Wednesday after Taliban militants killed 132 students at a school in the city of Peshawar in a grisly attack which shocked the nation and put pressure on the government to do more to tackle the insurgency.
People around the country lit candles and staged overnight vigils as parents prepared to bury their children during mass funerals in and around Peshawar - a big, volatile city on the edge of Pakistan's lawless tribal belt.
Pakistanis may be used to almost daily militant attacks against the security forces but an outright assault on children stunned the country, prompting commentators to call for a tough military response.
In Peshawar, the vast grounds of the military-run Army Public School were all but deserted, with a handful of snipers manning the roofs of its pink brick-and-stone buildings.
Army vehicles and soldiers wearing face masks and carrying automatic rifles were deployed by the entrance.
A day after the attack, Peshawar appeared subdued and many were still in shock, recalling the gruesome events and trying to soothe each other. More details of the well-organised attack emerged as witnesses came forward with their stories.
"The attackers came around 10:30 a.m. on a pick-up van," said Issam Uddin, a 25-year-old school bus driver.
"They drove it around the back of the school and set it on fire to block the way. Then they went to Gate 1 and killed a soldier, a gatekeeper and a gardener. Firing began and the first suicide attack took place."
The government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has announced a three-day mourning period but people's anxiety focused on what the authorities can do to protect the country.
Sharif came to power last year promising to negotiate peace with the Pakistani 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 against Taliban positions there late on Tuesday, a security source said, but it was unclear whether it was done in response to the school attack.
Good and Bad Taliban
Yet, despite the well-publicised crackdown, the military has long been accused of being too lenient towards Islamist militants who critics say are used to carry out the army's bidding in places like the disputed Kashmir region and Afghanistan.
The military denies the accusations.
"People will have to stop equivocating and come together in the face of national tragedy," said Sherry Rehman, a former ambassador to the United States and an opposition politician.
"There have been national leaders who been apologetic about the Taliban, who have not named the Taliban in their speeches."
The Pakistani Taliban, who are fighting to impose strict Islamic rule in Pakistan, are holed up in the inaccessible 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 and stage attacks in Afghanistan.
Pakistan's army chief was expected to visit Afghanistan on Wednesday for what is likely to be a day of uneasy talks with his Afghan counterparts on how to tackle the insurgency.
Pakistan's Dawn newspaper quoted a source as saying that the militants were acting on direct orders from their handlers in Afghanistan and that prominent Taliban commander Umar Naray was the ultimate mastermind of the attack.
Speaking late on Tuesday, army spokesman Major General Asim Saleem Bajwa hinted at that without naming Afghanistan.
"When these militants reached the school ... we found out which group was involved, who they were talking to, from where the operation was being controlled," he said. "God willing, in coming two-four days you will get to know."
Toll in Pakistan school massacre climbs to 148
Islamabad, Dec 17 (IANS/EFE): Children were the majority of the 148 people killed Tuesday in a Taliban attack on a school run by the Pakistani army in the northwestern city of Peshawar, near the border with Afghanistan.
The fatalities included 132 students and nine school employees, the military's director of public information, Gen. Asim Bajwa, told a press conference.
Another 122 students were wounded, as well as nine of the soldiers who retook the school from the insurgents.
More than 900 people were inside the compound at the start of the assault, Bajwa said.
Seven Taliban fighers dressed in army uniforms entered the school through a back door shortly before midday, police spokesperson Seid Wali said.
The attackers hurled grenades and fired burst of gunfire as they went from classroom to classroom, Wali added.
One of the students, a 14-year-old boy, told The Express Tribune that two men burst into his classroom and began shooting indiscriminately.
The Pakistani army launched an operation to liberate the school, which serves grades 1-10, but progress was slow as the troops had to contend with explosives planted inside by the attackers.
Soldiers eliminated the last of the insurgents by 6:20 p.m., authorities said.
Television stations broadcast scenes of chaos around the school and the sounds of explosions and gunfire were clearly audible in the background.
The attackers never planned to take hostages and were simply out to kill as many people as possible, Gen. Bajwa said.
After securing the school, the military embarked on a anti-insurgent sweep across Peshawar and the surrounding province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Pakistan's main Taliban group, known as the TTP, claimed responsibility for the attack and said it was in reprisal for the what the militants claimed was the targeting of their families by the military.
A counterinsurgency operation six months ago in the Khyber and North Waziristan areas left more than 1,100 insurgents dead, according to Pakistan's army.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif called the assault on the school "a national crisis", declared three days of mourning and convened a meeting Wednesday in Peshawar with leaders of all parties represented in the Pakistani parliament.
US President Barack Obama condemned the attack, as did Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Afghanistan's Ashraf Ghani.
Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani girl who was shot by the Taliban in 2012 for her outspoken advocacy on behalf of girls' education and went on to share this year's Nobel Peace Prize, said she was "heartbroken by this senseless and coldblooded act of terror in Peshawar."
Pakistan united against terror: Nawaz Sharif
Pakistan is united in the fight against terror, said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif Wednesday, a day after 132 children were killed in a Taliban attack on an army-run school here.
All parties in Pakistan are united in fighting terrorism, Nawaz Sharif told the media.
“We should not let the sacrifice of our children go in waste. Talks with Taliban have yielded no results,” the prime minister said during the all-party meeting.
The meeting was held to chalk out the plan to eliminate terrorism in Pakistan.
Pakistan lifts ban on capital punishment in terror cases
Pakistan Wednesday lifted a ban on capital punishment in terrorism cases, a day after 132 children were slaughtered by Taliban guerrillas in an army-run school here.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif revoked the ban on capital punishment in terrorism cases following which the terrorists facing death penalty could be executed, Geo TV reported.
Nawaz Sharif described the Peshawar school attack as a "national tragedy unleashed by savages" at All Party Meeting in Peshawar.
The audacious terror attack took place at the Army Public School at Peshawar. As many as 148 people, including 132 children, were killed in the attack that left the country numb with grief.
Besides the terror attack in Peshawar, the leaders will also discuss other challenges faced by the country during the meeting presided over by the prime minister.
Representatives from Awami National Party, Muttahida Qaumi Movement, and Pakistan People's Party, Qaumi Watan Party, Pashtunkhwa Mili Awami Party and others participated in the meeting.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan, who has led a protest against the government since August, too was present.