The Taliban has killed dozens of children at a Peshawar school in a revenge mission for Pakistani schoolgirl activist Malala Yousafzai being awarded the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize.
Ahmed Rashid, an expert on the Islamic militants, told the BBC the insurgents had various reasons to attack the school, one of which was to send a message to the supporters of Malala, who advocates education for women and children.
In response to the events at the school in Pakistan, education campaigner Malala has condemned the "atrocious and cowardly" attack.
As reported by the Guardian, she said: "I am heartbroken by this senseless and cold-blooded act of terror in Peshawar that is unfolding before us.
"Innocent children in their school have no place in horror such as this.
"I condemn these atrocious and cowardly acts and stand united with the government and armed forces of Pakistan whose efforts so far to address this horrific event are commendable.
“I condemn these atrocious and cowardly acts and stand united with the government and armed forces of Pakistan whose efforts so far to address this horrific event are commendable.” - Malala Yousafzai "I, along with millions of others around the world, mourn these children, my brothers and sisters - but we will never be defeated."
At least five militants entered the school, in north-west Pakistan, wearing security uniforms and massacred 126 people, mainly children, on Tuesday (16 December).
The Pakistani army officials said hundreds of students were evacuated but it is not yet clear how many are still in the building.
Rashid also believes the Taliban targeted the school to demoralise the military.
"Many of the soldiers and officers fighting the Taliban have their children in this school so this is an attempt to demoralise the military," he said.
The Taliban said the massacre was a "revenge" attack following an army offensive against Islamic extremists in North Waziristan and in nearby Khyber.
"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."
Malala attacked by the Pakistani Taliban in 2012
Malala, the youngest ever Nobel Prize winner, was shot by the Pakistani Taliban in 2012 for advocating education for women in Pakistan.
She was attacked on a school bus in the Swat valley, in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, of which Peshawar is the capital.
After she survived the homicide attempt, Malala moved with her family to the UK to receive treatment and finish her education, and has since become a worldwide symbol for the fight against oppression on women and the right to education.
A few days before the Peshawar attack, the Taliban warned that Malala had forged a pact with "Western satanic forces" and the Nobel committee gave their award to her to "promote Western culture and not education".
peshawar Children cross a road as they move away from a military-run school attacked by Taliban gunmen in Peshawar, Pakistan(Khuram Parvez/Reuters) Advertisement Gordon Brown, the United Nations special envoy for global education, has joined the condemnation of the attack.
He said: "The whole world will be shocked and heartbroken at the massacre in Peshawar that has destroyed so many innocent young lives.
"Prime Minister Sharif has called the attack a national tragedy and our thoughts are with families and school friends. Our hope is that emergency assistance can come immediately to those who are injured.
"We must remain resolute in saying that no terrorist group can at any time ever justify denying children the right to an education and we will do everything in our power to support the Pakistan authorities and make sure their schools are safe and protected.
"It has never been acceptable for schools to be places of conflict and for children to be subject to violence simply because they want to learn. Education is opportunity and hope for building nations.
"Too often innocent girls and boys have become targets for terrorists who want to deny children the right to education and schools have become theatres of war.
"No one has the right to deny a boy or girl their education and we will stand alongside the parents and the children against the Taliban's refusal to recognise every child has the right to education."
A bunch of dead kids at a school due to a shooter? This could be America. Humans are animals. Yet Pakistan will probably do something about this atrocity and America just shrugs when our children are slaughtered at their school desks.
Fucking horrible.
There is a huge difference in the cause of the shootings.
In America we have a systemic problem that is difficult to tease out and solve because the contributing factors are what level of gun ownership is permissible, how much security should we have on school campuses, why don't we have better mental health services available to the mentally disturbed, etc.
This was a terrorist attack on a school in retaliation for Malala being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Monday - for standing up to the Taliban (who responded with an attack on the very thing Malala was standing up for - education for boys and girls in Peshwar).
And Pakistan continues to shrug their shoulders when women and girls are terrorized by the Taliban. So suggesting they, unlike America, will respond to this and do something about it where we shake our heads is ... well naive is the nicest term I can come up with but I'm sure there is a better word.
There is a huge difference in the cause of the shootings.
In America we have a systemic problem that is difficult to tease out and solve because the contributing factors are what level of gun ownership is permissible, how much security should we have on school campuses, why don't we have better mental health services available to the mentally disturbed, etc.
This was a terrorist attack on a school in retaliation for Malala being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Monday - for standing up to the Taliban (who responded with an attack on the very thing Malala was standing up for - education for boys and girls in Peshwar).
And Pakistan continues to shrug their shoulders when women and girls are terrorized by the Taliban. So suggesting they, unlike America, will respond to this and do something about it where we shake our heads is ... well naive is the nicest term I can come up with but I'm sure there is a better word.
Okay thanks.
That was helpful and a contribution to the discussion.
Post by cattledogkisses on Dec 16, 2014 12:11:40 GMT -5
I hope Malala isn't blaming herself for any of this. Being such a prominent and polarizing figure must be a heavy burden for someone who's only 17. She's really an amazing girl.
I hope Malala isn't blaming herself for any of this. Being such a prominent and polarizing figure must be a heavy burden for someone who's only 17. She's really an amazing girl.
I was thinking this, too. That is a lot for a young person to carry. She is an amazing girl.
In taking credit for the attack, the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) said it was in retaliation for a recent military offensive against the group in the lawless region of North Waziristan. Sami Yousafzai rang up a TTP commander to ask why exactly his comrades believed that the mass murder of children was an appropriate act of revenge:
[Jihad] Yar Wazir justified the killings as fitting retribution. “The parents of the army school are army soldiers and they are behind the massive killing of our kids and indiscriminate bombing in North and South Waziristan,” which are the TTP strongholds. “To hurt them at their safe haven and homes—such an attack is perfect revenge.” But the children are innocents, I said. What about them, I asked?
“What about our kids and children,” he said. “These are the kids of the U.S.-backed Pakistani army and they should stop their parents from bombing our families and children.” Yar Wazir went on: “Those kids are innocent because they are wearing a suit and tie and western shirts? But our kids wearing Islamic shalwar kamiz do not come before the eyes of the media and the west.”