9th anniversary
\nHaqnawaz Shinwari
\nPESHAWAR
\nPakistanhas been the victim of terrorism for many decades but on December 16, 2014, Peshawar faced a terrorist attack that targeted school children. Itwas a national tragedy that wounded the heart of every Pakistani and willbe remembered as a dark day in the history of humanity.
\nA horrible terrorist attack in whichseven heavily armed terrorists stormed Army Public School(APS) in Peshawar on December 16, 2014, killing 149 people, of whom at least132 were students.
\nvery year the nation remembers the students who were killed by the terrorists mercilesslybut the principle of the APS, Tahira Qazi\u2019s dedication will be remembered for manyyears to come.
\nThe brave lady sacrificed her life but stood as a wall betweenthe terrorists and the innocent children.
\nAfter thetragic incident, they claimed responsibility for the APS attack, saying it wasin retaliation for Operation According to law enforcement agencies credible reports, the terrorists who launched an attack on the school in the heart of Peshawar andkilled them inside the school were trained in Afghanistan.
\nResponsibility for themassacre was claimed by a bannedoutfit of the Taliban, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
\nTTP leaders sought to justify the massacre as retaliationfor law enforcement attacks on its members during the Operation Zarb Azbin North Waziristan.
\nThe heartbreaking tragedy brought tears to every eye andunited the entire nation and all political parties on the same table for futureplanning against the severe blow of terrorism across the country.
\nThe cowardly terrorists wanted to extinguishthe candle of knowledge by attacking the school and targeted the futurebuilders but could not dampen the morale of the nation.
\nPeople of every schoolof thought throughout the country rejected the terrorist and evil thinking thatpropagated this cruelty and brutality.
\nThe tragedy also led to formulation of aclear policy and agreed action plan in the form of \u201cNational ActionPlan\u201d to combat terrorism and the incident occurred in the APS.
\nThe entireworld condemned this sad incident and strongly demanded that these terroristsbe punished.
\n9 years have passed since the tragedy of APS, but the wounds ofthe nation are still fresh today.
\nNo doubt, terrorists still usingAfghanistan\u2019s territory and targeting innocent citizens of Pakistan. Even today, Pakistan\u2019s forces and people arefighting against the terrorists of Afghanistan.
\nThe mother of slain MuhammadAli while recalling her son said that he was very friendly and lively and knownas golden boy among his friends and school mates.
\nMy son wanted to become acommando in SSG. Perhaps he has fought a battle, but he did not survive andleft us forever, she said and added that Ali was very close to me.
\nEven today,if someone asks me, I have one son and three sons, because the martyr is alive. Ali used to tell me that Mama, I will giveyou the happiness that you will remember.
\nI did not know that he was talkingabout martyrdom, she said. Another slain student of the APS was remembered byhis father.
\nHe said that his son Shayan Nasir Shaheed was fond of playingcricket. He was the youngest and the apple of everyone\u2019s eyes in our family,said Father of Shayan Nasir Shaheed.
\nThis is my message that the propagandaagainst the Pakistan Army should not be done because there is a famous saying\u201dIf the country does not have its own army, it will be someone else\u2019sarmy.\u201d
\nProud of the Pakistan Army, he said.Another family who lost Nangyal and Samuel onthe tragic day maintained that the world is incomplete with their two slainchildren.
\nThe sisters of the Nangyal and Shaul saidthat they have joined an event in connection with APS martyred in Peshawar anddesired to join the Pakistan Army.
\nIn Pakistan, the tragedy of APS is sosoul-searching, so monumental that its imprint will remain permanently etched inour collective consciousness.
\nThe attack on a school in Peshawar nine yearsago left everyone flabbergasted and faced everyone with indelible memories.
\nThatis even more so for the students who survived the unprecedented brutal attackand for the families of the dead whose lives were forever changed on that day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
9th anniversary Haqnawaz Shinwari PESHAWAR Pakistanhas been the victim of terrorism for many decades but on December 16, 2014, Peshawar faced a terrorist attack that targeted school children. Itwas a national tragedy that wounded the heart of every Pakistani and willbe remembered as a dark day in the history of humanity. A horrible terrorist attack […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":374999,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-374970","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-peshawar"},"yoast_head":"\n