PESHAWAR: Pakistan is observing the 10th anniversary of a deadly attack on the Army Public School (APS) in Peshawar, which claimed the lives of nearly 150 people, mostly students.
Special prayers and Quran Khwani are being held for the martyred students and teachers of Army Public School.
Meanwhile, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa education department has arranged special functions to commemorate the APS incident and martyred students.
On Dec 16, 2014, a group of terrorists stormed the Army Public School and killed nearly 150 people, including more than 130 schoolchildren.
The terrorist group Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) had claimed responsibility for the attack. Then the terrorist group leader Khalifa Mansoor was later killed in a US drone attack in eastern Afghanistan in October 2017.
In a message run on the state media, President Asif Ali Zardari the day of December 16 left un-erasable imprints on the collective memory of the nation when terrorists mercilessly killed our children.
He said that the incidents like APS tragedy expose the real face of terrorists and Khawarij and the Pakistani nation would not let the terrorists succeed in their nefarious designs.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has expressed firm resolve to continue the war against terrorism till the elimination of this menace from Pakistan.
In his message, the Prime Minister reiterated his determination to create a peaceful and secure Pakistan where no innocent faces any barbarity and all perpetrators are given exemplary punishment for their crimes.
He said the whole nation is standing against coward terrorists as a wall of fortified steel and will remain standing. He reminded the nation that the fitna of Khawarij [ the term government used for TTP] and anti-state elements have nothing to do with religion or social values.
After the APS attack, Pakistan formed a National Action Plan against terrorism and started anti- terror operations across the country.
Moreover, Pakistan formed military courts to speed up cases against terrorists. The military courts sentenced to death and executed all six terrorists involved in the attack on APS.
