Taliban release images of Peshawar killers, warn of more such attacks

[INDIAPOSITIVE]

The Taliban gunmen who stormed a school on Tuesday in the Pakistani city of Peshawar killing 148 people, including 132 children, have been identified by the militant group.

The Pakistani Taliban released the pictures as they issued a statement claiming the attack was justified because the Pakistani army had long been killing innocent children and families of their fighters.

Pakistani Taliban spokesman Mohammad Khurasani also vowed more attacks as he warned civilians to detach themselves from all military institutions.

In photos released by the group, between six and seven men carrying guns can be seen pictured in front of a white banner.

In one photo, the militants are standing with a local Taliban leader, AP has reported.

The statement claimed the picture was taken in one of the Pakistani tribal regions.

The Taliban released the images as pictures showing the devastation left behind following the eight hour siege started to emerge on Wednesday.

Walls riddled with bullet holes, an auditorium floor covered in blood and a burnt out office could be seen in pictures sent from the scene as journalists were allowed inside the building.

Mass funerals were under way on Wednesday as the death toll rose to 148 after the body of the school's head Tahira Qazi, was found among the debris overnight.

Military spokesman Major General Asim Bajwa said the school principal was inside her office when the attackers made their way into the administration building. He said she locked herself into the bathroom but was killed after a grenade was thrown through a vent and into the room.

As the official three day mourning period started on Wednesday, the prime minister of Pakistan lifted a moratorium on the death penalty in the wake of the massacre.

Taliban gunman broke into the school before opening fire and killing 132 children, wounding another 121 along with three staff, in the bloodiest massacre in the country for a number of years.

Maj Gen Bajwa said the attackers made their way into the main auditorium and started shooting randomly at the students, who had gathered for an event.

Students were gunned down as they tried to flee. Around 100 bodies were later recovered from the auditorium alone, Maj Gen Bajwa said.

There have also been reports that some of the female teachers were burned alive during the attack.

Army commandos fought the Taliban throughout the day until the school was cleared and all the attackers were reported to have been killed, eight hours after the siege had started.

Wounded children taken to hospital told Reuters news agency how most of the victims were killed when gunmen, wearing explosive strapped to their bodies, started to fire indiscriminately on students and their teachers.

hahrukh Khan, 15, who was shot in both legs but survived by hiding under a bench, said: "One of my teachers was crying, she was shot in the hand and she was crying in pain.

"One terrorist then walked up to her and started shooting her until she stopped making any sound. All around me my friends were lying injured and dead."

Images which show the inside of the building following the eight hour siege have now been posted online by BBC News presenter Mishal Husain.

The Pakistani Taliban, which is fighting to topple the government and set up an Islamic state, immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

"We selected the army's school for the attack because the government is targeting our families and females," said Taliban spokesman Muhammad Umar Khorasani. "We want them to feel the pain."

A three-day mourning period has been declared by the government as funerals started to be held for the victims.

Meanwhile, the father of Nobel Peace Prize winning teenager Malala Yousafzai has spoken of the "trauma" his family experienced when they heard the news of the attack on the school on Tuesday.

In an interview broadcast on BBC Radio 4's "Today" programme, Ziauddin Yousafzai described how his wife passed out when they heard the news.

He said: "We have gone through this situation on our family level when two years back my daughter was attacked and the whole world just turned into a dark hole for our family.

"I can imagine just how much sadness and terror and horror these families will be passing through now. Yesterday my wife had a fit, she went into unconsciousness for 10 to 15 minutes and then we had to recover her. I've never seen my daughter so sad and so upset as I have seen her yesterday."

Taliban release images of Peshawar killers, warn of more such attacks - The Times of India

 

[scrumpy]

Peshawar attack: Taliban release images of gunmen who killed 132 innocent children as they claim massacre was justified - Asia - World - The Independent

 

[Immanuel]

One of these shit stains was carrying a Steyr Aug, rare rifle, mostly a copy made in Darra.

 

[Selous]

Ye Malala ka panga har jaga he...Western media is obsessed with her

 

[Special Delivery]

One of these shit stains was carrying a Steyr Aug, rare rifle, mostly a copy made in Darra.

Used by your special forces in small numbers as well.

 

[Irfan Baloch]

Peshawar attack: Taliban release images of gunmen who killed 132 innocent children as they claim massacre was justified - Asia - World - The Independent

the real scum are the commentators, their depraved posts really win the title of obnoxious bastards who are sarcastic and mocking the tragedies in Peshawar and Iraq.

internet is a strange place that shows the soul of a person.

Ye Malala ka panga har jaga he...Western media is obsessed with her

I have no issue with her
West needs a person for a point of reference
his father tough is a complete drama. even his comments there are cringe worthy. so artificial and made up

 

[Immanuel]

Used by your special forces in small numbers as well.

India doesn't use Steyr, Pak SSG however does

 

[VCheng]

...........
internet is a strange place that shows the soul of a person.
..................

Au contraire, it is far easier to maintain crafted facades on the Internet.

 

[Asian.Century]

It emerged today TTP supported by India in Afghanistan, external forces has complete hand.

 

[StormShadow]

WTF!!! I can see a teenager in that pic! He is hardly 13 - 14 yrs! How many of them are still there?

 

[Lord ZeN]

Au contraire, it is far easier to maintain crafted facades on the Internet.

Strange!! your flag suddenly changed to American one . Any change in flag rule ? or did u give up your Pakistani identity.

It emerged today TTP supported by India in Afghanistan, external forces has complete hand.

Only 2 nations recognised Taliban government in Afghanistan & Pak was one of then. TTP is that direct outshoot of it & don't bother replaying.

 

[Spring Onion]

WTF!!! I can see a teenager in that pic! He is hardly 13 - 14 yrs! How many of them are still there?

many . teenagers are easy prey for them

 

[VCheng]

A thought-provoking article:

Our denial killed children in Peshawar - Blogs - DAWN.COM

Our denial killed children in Peshawar
Farrukh Khan Pitafi
Published about 4 hours ago

Bullet holes are seen in the wall at APS a day after an attack by Taliban militants in Peshawar on December 17, 2014. —AFP



There is no sight uglier than a child’s corpse. I can say this because I have seen one dying before my eyes.

When a child dies, no words can console the grieving hearts of parents. And a cowardly terror attack on a school just snatched over a hundred children from the warm embrace of their parents in Peshawar.

Just try understanding the magnitude, the size of this all. More than a hundred families will now have their child-shaped holes in their lives forever. Parents all over the country will think twice before sending their children to schools again.

The children that survived the ghastly attack will never be the same again; their innocence, their childhood gone. It takes years for trauma victims to recover. Some don't recover even after that.

The question on every mind is, when the grieving is over, will the nation unite against the spectre of terrorism?

If the past is any guide, the sad answer would be no.

Also read: Militant siege of Peshawar school ends, 141 killed

Pakistan is given a lot of credit for being a resilient nation. I think most of that is down to the state of denial we choose to live in.

There are always a myriad conspiracy theories circulating within our society. For reasons unknown, we choose to believe them.

We find the distant, often most improbable explanations for simple acts of violence plaguing our nation. Our workplaces, public places, government offices, security installations, hospitals, places of worship and now schools all have come under attack.

After every gruesome incident, TTP or one of its uncountable affiliates takes responsibility; often releases video clips with the assailant’s taped speeches before attack, and yet we refuse to believe it. That state of denial, in essence, is the terrorist's biggest weapon and his ultimate victory.

Sorry rehabilitation facilities


The logical question after a tragedy of this magnitude is about the rehabilitation of those who survive. Of the amputees, the irreparably wounded, and in this case, the innocent minds scarred for a lifetime.

But curiously enough, in this age of vibrant media, no one asks such questions. We count our dead, hardly mention their names, bury them, offer condolences, condemn the attacks and return to our normal lives without sparing a thought for those who have been handicapped for life.

Usually nations of the world devise social security nets for such victims — not our nation. And to think that this country has lost over 50,000 souls to terrorism; that in terror attacks the number of wounded is always higher than the slain; is to realise how many precious lives have been destroyed just because of our apathy, denial and lack of ownership.

Also read: Pakistan plunges into mourning

When the National Internal Security Policy (NISP) was recently introduced in the cabinet and the parliament, many of us felt relieved at seeing it included a rehabilitation component. Sadly, after much fanfare and hype, the NISP is still an unimplemented piece of paper.

I think everyone needs to know what survivors go through after their loss.

A couple of years ago a show I hosted on the plight of such victims and the sacrifices of our soldiers, took me to the Armed Forces Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine (AFIRM). There, I met one young officer who had sustained a head wound in a terror ambush. This man spoke for 15 minutes and yet, I could not understand a word he said.

Imagine the heartbreak of his parents and relatives to see him in such a state. That was despite the army’s best known care. Think of those who are at mercy of the civilian authorities.

Also read: Peshawar sinks in gloom

AFIRM is a state-of-the-art facility where I met countless bright young soldiers who had lost a part of themselves to terrorism. Given that this country has fought terrorism for 14 years and terrorists have attacked every nook and corner, the country should have similar facilities in every city. But civilian authorities don’t work that way. They just distribute cheques that sometimes are not even honoured and forget about the entire episode.

The missing counter terrorism national narrative


Then, there is the matter of a national narrative against terrorism. I have brought the matter up with so many successive presidents, prime ministers and senior ministers of this country that I have lost count. This country clearly lacks a coherent narrative against terrorism.

Not convinced? Just switch on your television and see for yourself what our leading talk show hosts discuss in their shows. You will be surprised to see how many conspiracy theories are dished out every single day.

The terrorists shout atop their voice that we are responsible for the terror attacks. Our anchors reply, no you are lying, so and so foreign intelligence agency is responsible.

Want to learn more about how pathetic our televised discourse on terrorism is?

First, just recall how deftly a large segment of our media projected Qadri’s Inqilab march and Imran Khan’s Azadi march as a revolution. And now notice how our media covers the Operation Zarb-e-Azb in North Waziristan. Ever since it started, this phrase has been repeated ad nauseam: Operation Zarb-e-Azb kamiabi se jari hai (Operation Zarb-e-Azb is proceeding successfully).

It is literally the same sentence every day, every hour — not a single word changes; almost an expression of boredom, like the ‘whatever’ your child mutters when you give them the same lecture for the nth time.

Also read: War of narratives

It seems a huge segment of our media doesn’t want to believe that the butchers of TTP and affiliates are capable of even hurting a fly. No wonder, then, that it took this country over a decade to pursue terrorists into their safe havens in Waziristan.

From the ever-increasing cases of polio to the terrorist attacks, it is this denial that keeps weakening our resolve. The NISP had proposed that from the rehabilitation of the victims to developing a national narrative, most terror-related chores be given to the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA).

Until recently, however, NACTA did not have a full-time head. It was after the Wagah tragedy that Hamid Ali Khan was made full-time chairman of the authority. However inter-departmental turf wars have made the task of the reconstitution and empowerment of NACTA a pipe dream. It is still being debated whether NACTA chief should report directly to the prime minister or the interior minister.

Befuddling intelligence mechanisms


And of course, the issue of intelligence sharing needs a mention here. A day before the Wagah incident, an eveninger carried the headline that a plan to attack a ceremony at Wagah was afoot and that the suicide attacker had entered Lahore city. No notice was taken. Keep in mind that such eveningers usually have access only to low levels of intelligence hierarchy.

Yet, the report was spot on. It was originally envisaged that an intelligence sharing mechanism would be devised. However, since it was to take place under the aegis of interior ministry, the inclusion of input from ISI proved to be tricky.

Why both the counter-terrorism body and the intelligence sharing mechanism could not function under the direct supervision of the prime minister’s office is mystery to me. The chief executive of the United States, its president, receives briefings directly from the intelligence community every day. Why can’t we have a similar set up?

Bungling around with counter terrorism rituals


And this discussion cannot be complete without the mention of our counter terrorism rituals. Often, when a terror attack of high magnitude takes place, an All Parties Conference (APC) is convened. In this conference, parties from across the spectrum are invited to deliberate on the incident.

Actually, the forum better suited for such deliberation is that of the parliament, where decisions are made through majority vote. However, in the APCs, the majoritarian principle is abandoned in favour of total consensus. And since some political parties are known to have a soft corner for religious militants, they manage to obscure the discourse, ensuring that the outcome is never actionable in nature.

And then there is mind-numbing outrage against the counter terrorism legislations in the parliament. Parties that claim to act as bulwarks against terrorism and extremism transform into shrieking banshees against laws for fighting terror.

Also read: Pakistan most terror-hit nation

I understand that there often are aspects of law that can be abused, but the real trouble, which we have all grown too immune to even hear anymore, is courts letting the terrorists go scot-free. Of course, they do.

What else can the courts do in the absence of appropriate laws clearly defining the offenses and the nature of the evidence?

The death penalty question


Similarly, there is the issue of terrorists on the death row. International community and centre-left parties all seem averse to the idea of hanging the criminals. We are often told that perks like the GSP-plus will be withdrawn if any of these terrorists are hanged.

I am not a supporter of capital punishment either. But when these terrorists conveniently manage to operate their terror outfits from within the confines of prison, which are often easy to breach, one has to wonder how many innocent lives this compassion of ours can cost us.

Know more: Nawaz removes moratorium on death penalty

Honestly speaking, if one were to do justice to the subject of terrorism, this piece would never end. However, the important point here is that when, after 14 years of war and over 50,000 deaths, if these basic questions are still unresolved, can we expect any dramatic change overnight? No, we can’t.

So, let me put it bluntly, dear readers, that our own apathy and denial have killed these innocent children in Peshawar. If we don’t put our house in order now, there is no guarantee this will not happen again.

It is time to ask your elected representatives to stop wasting time and start acting.

 

[StormShadow]

many . teenagers are easy prey for them

Solution? Any kind of brain storming sessions? ISI should have those mullahs on their payroll and preaching should be based on ethical and moral values.

 

[The Huskar]

Fuc**** scums had the audacity to gloat after carrying out this immoral acts.Hope PA makes nets outta their body.