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16 December 2014

Peshawar school massacre

On 16 December 2014 Pakistani Taliban militants attacked the Army Public School in Peshawar. The Pakistani military said 141 people were killed, including 132 children and nine staff. All seven attackers, who wore suicide vests, were killed. The assault lasted many hours, and survivors described gunmen going from classroom to classroom.

The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan said the attack was retaliation for Pakistani military operations, including the Zarb-e-Azb offensive in North Waziristan. The BBC and ABC reported international condemnation, including from Malala Yousafzai, the UN Secretary-General and US President Barack Obama.

ABC reported Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott saying it was “impossible to put into words the mixture of grief and fury that must be felt by people in Pakistan and around the world at this latest terrorist atrocity.”

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