By: Mushtaq Ahmad
It was early morning. I was in school when the sudden news of the attack on APS created an atmosphere of anxiety and fear. Panic spread everywhere in the entire city of Peshawar. And the sirens of ambulances started ringing in the city.
It was the most painful tragedy in my life. I can not forget this incident for the rest of my life.
On December 16, 2014, terrorists entered the Army Public School (APS) in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa through the rear wall and opened fire. As a result, more than 140 people including students were martyred.
In no country in the world have terrorists targeted innocent children in schools. Thus, this incident became the worst example in the history of terrorism. On that day, teaching and learning were going on as usual in all the classes, it was 10:30 in the morning, suddenly 6 terrorists set fire to their own car as soon as they got out of the car, this was also part of their nefarious plan, so that No one could reach them by car. Suicide jackets were visible on their chests. Later they jumped the walls and entered the school building. They ran towards the auditorium located right in the middle of the school complex. Where some students were gathered for first aid training. The outer door of the auditorium that opens to the ground, they targeted the children coming from there.
They had reached there to stain their hands with the blood of as many innocent children as possible. Addressing the innocent children, the terrorists said, “Now look at the scene of the martyrdom of your teachers and brothers.” On this occasion, the head teacher of the school, Tahira Qazi, became a shield in front of the children: “First my life will be lost, then something will happen to the little souls”. His words echo in our ears even today. It seems as if she is still coming forward and calling. The innocents who were martyred are still alive in our hearts, their determination is alive and the name and mark of you beasts has been erased.
It wasn’t even 15 minutes that helicopters were also flying in the air, SSG commandos were inside the building and army teams were there because children’s lives were precious. The terrorists had no idea that the commandos would arrive so soon, otherwise the terrorists would have killed everyone. But the army commandos didn’t know where the terrorists were hiding, they had to save the children too, lest something happens to an innocent person. So first the school building was surrounded and then moved inside. Within a few minutes, the security agencies intercepted the calls of the terrorists.
After being surrounded by the commandos, the terrorists hid in the administration block, trying to shield some of the children. At that moment gunshots were heard, a terrorist was killed while running near the auditorium. Two terrorists were shot dead while escaping through a window, while the rest of the terrorists were hiding in a block of flats. They were killed, the commandos hit the targets and the four terrorists were killed. Thus 960 children and staff members were rescued. Later, while talking to Army Chief General Raheel Sharif, the children said, “You should consider us wounded soldiers, not children, eliminate one terrorist from our country.” The determination and courage of the children was visible.
I salute these martyrs of Peshawar. Waleed Khan is one of the students of APS Peshawar who was the head boy of the class. He was standing on the desk. The terrorists targeted Waleed Khan as soon as they entered. When he started to crumble on the floor, these tyrants thought that Waleed Khan was still alive, so they fired more shots at Waleed Khan. Waleed Khan received 08-bullets in his face and body. But Waleed Khan’s spirits are higher today. I salute Waleed’s courage.
Even after 08 years, Muhammad Ali Khan’s mother is still looking towards the door that now Muhammad Ali Khan will come and lay his head in her mother’s arms.
This is a sign of Ayman Khan’s mother’s pain that she says that even if centuries pass and she suppose to alive, she cannot forget Ayman Khan.
The mother of Noorullah Durrani and Saifullah Durrani is aching for the memory of her sons every minute and every second.
Similarly, Mubeen Afridi’s promise to his mother to top the class also remained unfulfilled.
Peshawar High Court judge Justice Muhammad Ibrahim Khan handed over the judicial inquiry report to the Supreme Court on the ‘APS’ tragedy, which the court ordered to make public. The Judicial Inquiry Commission has also raised several questions in its report calling the tragedy a security failure. The report said that despite the threats, the low number of security guards and non-deployment at the right locations also contributed to the loss.
According to the report, punishments were also given to the concerned officers and officials of the unit who showed negligence. The report stated that on the day of the tragedy, the security guards were stunned by the explosions and heavy firing while the terrorists entered the school unopposed from the rear. Had the security guards resisted, there might not have been so many casualties. According to the report, the terrorists entered from Afghanistan possibly in the guise of refugees and treachery compromised the security which led to the success of the terrorists’ plan. Facilitation of terrorists by locals is inexcusable.
The Judicial Inquiry Commission says, “When one betrays one’s own blood, the consequences are grave. No agency can prevent such attacks, especially when the enemy is from within.” According to the report of the commission, in this incident, the security personnel on patrol went towards the vehicle burnt by the terrorists and focused on the incident.
The terrorists set fire to the vehicle to divert the attention of the security personnel, after which another patrolling team came and confronted the terrorists. Regarding the role of the National Counter-Terrorism Authority (NACTA), the report said that NACTA issued a general alert of attacks on military bases, officials and their families. After the Necta alert, the army started operations against the terrorists. The commission says that the APS tragedy has set back the achievements of the army.
A senior Pakistani official said India was involved in a deadly terrorist attack on a military-run school in Pakistan in 2014 that martyred 144 children between the ages of 08 and 18.
It was the most painful tragedy in my life. I am sorry that even the good deeds of these innocent martyrs did not make us a nation. Wasn’t the blood of these innocent martyrs enough to wake up these dishonest politicians? The disrespect and hypocrisy of the then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was so severe that on the following year December 2015, he invited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the mastermind of the APS attack, and gave this terrorist Modi a royal welcome.
At that time, the Israeli intelligence MOSSAD, American CIA and RAW were present in Afghanistan. Who flowed dollars from Afghanistan to Pakistan. And this is how our country was made a haven for terrorists. And besides, APS Attack was a nefarious conspiracy to spew poison against Pakistan Army.
Author/Writer: Mushtaq Khan
E-mail: mushtaqkhanaqkhan@gmail.com
COMSATS University Islamabad, Pakistan, CIIT-ISB.
