Mrs Kazi, the principal of Army Public School and
College in Peshawar which was attacked by Taliban militants yesterday Dec. 16th
was set on fire by jihadists who made her students watch her burn to death. The
principal was reportedly targeted because she was married to retired army
colonel
Another terrorist reportedly went into another classroom which had 60 students
in it and blew himself up, killing most of the students. So far, 132 children
have been confirmed dead in the massacre.The insurgents were said to have had inside information before carrying out the
well planned attack and there are people who believe the brutal attack was in
revenge of Malala winning the Noble Prize while some say the school was
attacked because the students aspired to be soldiers.Shocking eye witness accounts of what happened...culled from
UK Daily Mail
At first, the children thought it was just a drill. Then the
screaming began. As the pupils poring over their books realised the bangs they
could hear were the sounds of guns fired in anger, panic spread.As Pakistani special forces engaged the attackers, harrowing
eyewitness accounts of the massacre emerged from survivors.
By 10.15, at least 60 pupils were already dead as hundreds
of Pakistani soldiers poured from lorries to seal off the area and take the
battle to the Taliban fighters, all of whom were wearing suicide vests. One 15-year-old student Shahrukh Khan, who was shot in both
legs, told how he hid under a bench and played dead to avoid being killed by
the insurgents.Speaking from his bed in the trauma ward of the city's Lady
Reading Hospital, the teenager told how he even shoved a tie in his mouth to
stop him from screaming out in fear of the gunmen. Khan described how, after they burst in shouting
'Allah-o-Akbar' - which means 'God is greatest' - one of them shouted: 'There
are so many children beneath the benches, go and get them'.He said: 'I saw a pair of big black boots coming towards me,
this guy was probably hunting for students hiding beneath the benches.'Khan said he felt searing pain as he was shot in both his
legs just below the knee.He decided to play dead, adding: 'I folded my tie and pushed
it into my mouth so that I wouldn't scream.
'The man with big boots kept on looking for students and
pumping bullets into their bodies. I lay as still as I could and closed my
eyes, waiting to get shot again.'My body was shivering. I saw death so close and I will
never forget the black boots approaching me -- I felt as though it was death
that was approaching me.'Khan told how he tried to get up, but fell because of his
injuries. Desperate to escape to safety, he crawled into the next room, where
he the body of the school's office assistant body on fire.He said: 'She was sitting on the chair with blood dripping
from her body as she burned.'
Khan, who said he also saw the body of a soldier who worked
at the school, then crawled behind a door to hide, where he lost consciousness.
He added: 'One of my teachers was crying, she was shot in
the hand and she was crying in pain.
'One terrorist then walked up to her and started shooting
her until she stopped making any sound. All around me my friends were lying
injured and dead.'A 10-year-old boy caught up in the massacre also spoke of
his dramatic escape from Taliban gunmen as bullets whizzed past his head -
having seen two of his classmates shot dead in front of him.Irfan Shah told how he was sitting in his class at 10:30
when he heard the sound of firing outside.Shah told MailOnline: 'It was our social studies period. Our
teacher first told us that some kind of drill was going on and that we do not
need to worry. It was very intense firing. Then the sound came closer. Then we
heard cries. One of our friends open the window of the class.'He started weeping as there were several school fellows
lying on the ground outside the class.'Everybody was in panic. Two of our class fellows ran
outside class in panic. They were shot in front of us.'He said that the teacher asked the children, part of a class
of 33, to run towards the back gate of the school.
He said: 'I heard about it around 11 at my college. Then my
uncle gave me a call and asked me to reach the school to check the whereabouts
of my young cousins. One is seven and other is nine. It took me more than 45
minutes to reach the spot as army closed down all the roads and streets leading
to school.'He said that went to the main gate of the school around
12:30.He continued: 'I saw a few soldiers trying to encircle a
young man who was wearing a similar uniform to them. When soldiers tried to
approach him, there was a huge blast. The other guy was one of the terrorists.
This was such a horrible scene.'For a few moments, I couldn't understand what was going on.
I saw his body parts flying in the air after the blast. One of the soldiers was
badly injured.'Khan also saw terrorists firing indiscriminately in the
class rooms on the second floor of the building.
He said: 'It is a huge double story building. I saw a
terrorist getting into a classroom and firing like anything. Then I heard the
cries and most of those crying became silent after a few minutes which means
either they died or fainted.'A soldier told him that the kids who had successfully
managed to get out of school were in a nearby park.He added: 'I went there but couldn't find my cousins among
those kids. A soldier on told me that they might have died in the attack. I
could not even imagine that. After, a few minutes I saw the elder one coming
towards the park. I was never so happy and relieved to see him. He was weeping
and shivering with fear. I held him to my chest. It was great feeling.'Five minutes after him, my younger cousin also appeared. I
lost my senses in happiness after seeing him. Our family is blessed. I saw
mothers and fathers crying like mad at the gate of the school. I do not believe
that we are so blessed.'Mohammad Muneeb told how his 14-year-old brother Muhammad
Shaheer was shot dead in front of him as 200 children sat in an auditorium,
getting training in first aid.'Two guards were there, sitting on the desk at the front,
when four people wearing black uniform ran in.
They just started firing. First
they targeted the brigadier and his guards, the two guards were killed.'The brigadier managed to get away safely and they started
firing at the students.'I saw my own brother die, he was shot in the throat.'A school volunteer who did not want to be named described
the auditorium shooting: 'I was working with the other organisations. What I
saw was indescribable. I was in the auditorium when they burst in, it was 1030
when they broke in to the school. There was a function in the auditorium, they
just opened fire on everyone. They just started firing and shooting violently
with AK47s.'There was around 200 children in the auditorium, all boys.'Father Muhammad Dahir, a computer engineer, said: 'I am so
sad, I cannot explain my feelings. I cannot speak. There are dead bodies
everywhere. This city is filled with dead bodies. I cannot explain my feelings.
What kind of horror are we involved in? We are in the frontline here. Everyone
is pushing us, the Americans, our own government.'Pharmacist Ahmed Salman, whose 15-year-old son was killed, said:
'I took my son to school this morning and I was at work when someone told me
there was firing in the school. I went there and saw children being taken out
in ambulances. I was searching but I could not find him. My younger brother
called me and told me that Ahmed's body was lying in the mortuary of the
military hospital.'He had a bullet in his lungs.'Mudassar Abbas, a physics laboratory assistant at the
school, said some students were celebrating at a party when the attack began.'I saw six or seven people walking class-to-class and
opening fire on children,' he said.Mudassir Awan, an employee at the school, said he saw at
least six people scaling the walls of the building, but initially thought
little of it.'We thought it must be the children playing some game. But
then we saw a lot of firearms with them,' he said.'As soon as the firing started, we ran to our classrooms.
They were entering every class and they were killing the children,' he added.One of the wounded students, Abdullah Jamal, said he was
with a group of 8th, 9th and 10th graders who were getting first-aid
instructions and training with a team of Pakistani army medics when the attack
began.When the shooting started, Mr Jamal, who was shot in the
leg, said nobody knew what was going on in the first few seconds.'Then I saw children falling down who were crying and
screaming. I also fell down. I learned later that I have got a bullet,' he said,
speaking from his hospital bed.'All the children had bullet wounds. All the children were
bleeding,' he added.Akhtar Ali, who works out for the UN, was weeping outside
the school.
He told MailOnline: 'My 14-year-old niece Afaq is inside the
school. I don't know if she is alive or dead. I am desperate. I am just waiting
in hope. It is agony. ''My son was in uniform in the morning. He is in a casket
now,' wailed one parent, Tahir Ali, as he came to the hospital to collect the
body of his 14-year-old son, Abdullah.'My son was my dream. My dream has been killed.'MailOnline spoke to Naveed Ahmed, who works at the
irrigation department. He said: 'My son Hasid Asmad is 16-years-old, is still
inside the school., He took a mobile and called me while I was in the mosque,
he was praying down the phone. I have been waiting so many hours for news. My
son told that he was being kept safe by the Pakistan army inside. They are
taking a picture of them to prove they are safe.'They have told me that the children are safe in the custody
of the army.'Mrs Humayun Khan, one of the mothers of a student, said with
tears in her eyes: 'No body is telling me about my son's whereabouts... I have
checked the hospital and he is not there. I am really losing my heart. God forbid
may he's not among the students still under custody of terrorists.
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