On 16 December 2014, six gunmen affiliated with the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) conducted a terrorist attack on the Army Public School in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar. The terrorists, all of whom were foreign nationals, comprising one Chechen, three Arabs and two Afghans, entered the school and opened fire on school staff and children, killing 149 people including 132 schoolchildren ranging between eight and eighteen years of age, making it the world's eighth deadliest school massacre. Pakistan launched a rescue operation undertaken by the Pakistan Army's Special Services Group (SSG) special forces, who killed all six terrorists and rescued 960 people. In the long term, the national outrage against the targeted killing of schoolchildren led to Pakistan establishing the National Action Plan to crack down on terrorism.
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.
Pakistan responded to the attacks by lifting its moratorium on the death penalty, committing more resources to 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. Two other militants had committed suicide by bombing themselves in the massacre. The mastermind of the attack, Omar Khorasani, was killed in Afghanistan on 7 August 2022 by a roadside mine. 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.
Background
In June 2014, a joint military offensive was conducted by the Pakistan Armed Forces against various groups in North Waziristan which had been the site of a wave of violence. The military offensive, Operation Zarb-e-Azb, was launched in the wake of the 8 June attack on Jinnah International Airport in Karachi, for which the TTP claimed responsibility. It was part of the ongoing war in North-West Pakistan in which more than 2,100 have been killed so far, and, according to the Army, almost 90% of North Waziristan has been cleared.
Attack
Army Public School is located at Warsak Road near the Peshawar Cantt, and is a part of Army Public Schools and College Systems that runs 146 schools across Pakistan. On the day of the attack, a total of 1,099 students and staff were registered in the school. The attack began at around 10:30 a.m., when seven gunmen wearing explosive belts entered the school after having scaled the walls. 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 an assembly on first aid training.
According to the Director General of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) and 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 people as they could. As the terrorists opened fire, many of the people ran toward the two exits on the other side of the auditorium; many others were gunned down in the garden. Reports also surfaced that pupils were forced to watch teachers be killed in front of them. This included principal Tahira Qazi, who was shot in the head in front of her students.
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. Emergency trauma teams and units of the Army Medical Corps in military armoured vehicles were rushed to the school; the Army Corps of Military Police and the provincial civilian Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police (KP Police) worked towards 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. One of the six attackers was 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.
At a press conference, Major-General Bajwa would later state, "We know who they are and who they were in contact with but details cannot 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."
Victims
An estimated total of 1,099 people and teaching staff were present on the school premises. Responding forces were successful in rescuing approximately 960, though 139 were injured. 149 people were killed, including 132 children and 9 school staff members.
The provincial Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa announced PKR 3,164,000 (US$11,300 approx.) as compensation to the kin of each of the deceased in the terror attack and PKR 200,000 (US$1,130 approx.) 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 offensive in North Waziristan that started in summer 2014.
TTP spokesman Muhammad Omar Khorasani said that "we targeted the school because the Army targets our families. We want them to feel our pain.", "Our six fighters successfully entered the Army school and we are giving them instructions from outside," said Khorasani by phone. During the massacre, 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." Later though the Taliban claimed contrary by putting out a statement saying, "More than 50 sons of important army officers were killed after being identified." The attacks were mainly coordinated by TTP leaders operating in Afghanistan. Moustafa Seyan Sediqyar was later killed in a drone strike in Afghanistan on 9 July 2016.
On 18 December 2014, a video was released by TTP on their website showing a man named Umar Mansoor revealing that he was the mastermind behind the Peshawar School attack. However, the Pakistan government officials commented that the planning of the attack was actually carried out by Saddam Jan, who was instructed by Umar Mansoor on behalf of Maulana Fazlullah. On 26 December 2014 at midnight, Jan was hunted and killed by the special forces in Khyber Agency in a secret hideout alongside six unidentified high-value targets.
Nationalities of the terrorists
The Pakistani intelligence community conducted an investigation to determine the nationalities of the terrorists, whom the FIA determined were all foreign fighters. The pictures of six of the gunmen were released by the Pakistani Taliban:
- Abu Shamil (also went by Abdur Rehman) — a Chechen fighter and thought to be the ringleader of the group.
- Nouman Shah Helmand — an Afghan citizen from Helmand Province; the U.S. had placed a $500,000 bounty upon Nouman.
- Wazir Alam Herat — an Afghan citizen from Herat.
- Khatib al-Zubaidi — an Egyptian citizen.
- Mohammad Zahedi — a Moroccan citizen.
- Jibran al-Saeedi — a Saudi citizen.
The SIM card of the mobile phone that was used by the terrorists was found to be registered to a woman from Hasilpur, Punjab.
Reactions
I have decided to proceed to Peshawar and I will supervise the operation myself. These are my children and it is my loss.
— Nawaz Sharif, Prime Minister of Pakistan
The attack sparked widespread reactions in Pakistan, receiving condemnations from public, government, political and religious entities, journalists, and other members of Pakistani society. Pakistani media reacted strongly to the event, with major newspapers, news channels and many commentators calling for renewed and strong action against militants, especially against the TTP.
International reaction to the attack was also widespread, with many countries and international organizations condemning the attack and expressing their condolences to the families of the victims. Many important personalities around the world also condemned the attack.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif condemned the attack, calling it a national tragedy and announced a three-day mourning period during which the national flag would fly at half mast. President Mamnoon Hussain and chief ministers of four provinces reacted strongly to the attack and condemned it.
Major Pakistani political entities denounced and heavily condemned the attack on innocent children, calling for a strong reaction against the militants. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Imran Khan called off the ongoing Azadi March protest in respect for the victims.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai condemned the attack, saying in a statement: "I am heartbroken by this senseless and cold-blooded act of terror in Peshawar that is unfolding before us". Her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai said his "heart is bleeding" and his family is "traumatized" over the Peshawar school massacre.
The terrorist organization al-Qaeda's spokesperson said that "Our hearts are bursting with pain" and that the soldiers should be targeted, not their children.
Following the attack, Pakistani authorities launched crackdowns on Afghan refugee settlements to apprehend illegal immigrants. During the period, at least 30,000 Afghans left for Afghanistan, out of which close to 2,000 were deported due to a lack of legal documentation.
Aftermath
Many international media organizations referred to the attack as Pakistan's "9/11". The popular opinion was one of anger against the TTP soon after the attacks. Pakistan's Government and its Armed Forces showed immediate reaction to the incident.
According to the Iranian-American scholar, Vali Nasr, "the Taliban may be trying to slacken the resolve of the military by suggesting that there could be a tremendous human costs to the military offensive and create public pressure on the military to back off from this offensive, but it may actually ricochet on them."
On the second day after the attack, the moratorium on capital punishment was lifted in terror-related cases by Nawaz Sharif after which Mohammed Aqeel along with Arshad Mehmood, convicted for a failed assassination attempt on the previous President, General Pervez Musharraf, were executed on 19 December.
Protesters in Pakistan's capital Islamabad surrounded a pro-Taliban mosque and reclaimed the space.
A series of candle vigils were held throughout Pakistan in solidarity with the victims. A number of international communities recorded their protest to condemn the attack.
On 30 December 2014, Pakistani batsman Younis Khan visited the school. The Pakistani team played a test match against New Zealand on the second day after the massacre. Younis Khan handed over cricket kits and a cheque sent by the New Zealand cricket team.
In 2015, Pakistan renamed 107 schools after school children killed during the massacre in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region.
The 2015 video game Pakistan Army Retribution is set during the Peshawar school massacre. After a negative review on the website of DAWN, people on Twitter also outed their criticism on the game. Pakistan Army Retribution was pulled from the Google Play Store in January 2016.
Reopening
The Army Public School Peshawar was reopened on 12 January 2015 under the guard of Pakistan's security forces.
To uplift the morale and spirit of the students and victims of the school, the Chief of Army Staff, General Raheel Sharif, personally attended the morning assembly of the school and confirmed to them that no such incident will ever occur in Pakistan again as they will break the backbone of the Taliban.
Lifting of moratorium on executions of terrorists
On 17 December 2014, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif approved paperwork to remove the moratorium on the death penalty in terrorism cases. Sources from the Prime Minister's Secretariat stated: "The Prime Minister has approved abolishment of moratorium on the execution of death penalty in terrorism-related cases."