ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Thursday his government had “zero tolerance” for violence as opposition leaders called for soul-searching on the seventh anniversary of a militant attack on a school in Peshawar in which 134 children were killed.
A group of heavily armed militants belonging to the proscribed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) faction entered the Army Public School (APS) building in a high security area of Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on December 16, 2014, and killed children and staff members.
Thousands of other Pakistanis also lost their lives in TTP militant attacks in the last two decades, with the group accepting responsibility for several high-profile attacks, including an assassination attempt on activist and now Nobel Prize winner Malala Yousafzai.
“Pak [Pakistan] has successfully defeated terrorism,” the prime minister said in a Twitter post. “I reiterate we will never let down the survivors & parents of our martyred children. There is zero tolerance for violence & those using it as a tool.”
In November, the government agreed on a month-long cease-fire with the TTP, but the militant group announced last week it would not extend the deal since the Pakistan government was not honoring its commitment of releasing 102 TTP fighters.
Parents of victims and survivors of the school massacre have opposed the truce and held street protests against it.
Earlier this week, the country’s information minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said his country was ready to “fight” the outlawed militant group again if it did not respect the constitution and law of the country.
On the official twitter account, the government said “Pakistan remembers APS attack as a national tragedy which united the whole nation against the menace of terrorism.”
Leader of the opposition in the National Assembly and president of the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) opposition party said in his message on Twitter that December 16 would always remain a painful day for the nation.
“Have we learned any lessons & corrected our course? When will we sincerely put our heads together for better future of our children? There are too many questions but too few answers,” he wrote.
The daughter of Pakistan’s former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and young Pakistan Peoples Party politician Aseefa Bhutto Zardari said on Twitter the victims’ families were still waiting for justice.
“7 years on we bow our heads in shame the PTI gov [government] would rather appease and negotiate with the terrorists responsible than bring them to justice. Our heart aches for APS victims families,” she said.
People from different walks of life also remembered the APS attack as a national tragedy for Pakistan and #APSPeshawar remained among the top Twitter trends in the country.
Germany’s ambassador to Pakistan Bernhard Schlagheck said on the social media platform he was “thinking of the innocent children & staff members who became victims of the horrific attack on #APSPeshawar 7 years ago today.”
“My heart goes out to all the families & friends that were bereaved & all those who were & continue to be affected by that terrible day,” he added.
