Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD:The 10th anniversary of the deadly attack on Army Public School (APS) in Peshawar that claimed the lives of more than 140 people, 134 of them schoolchildren, is being observed across the country today (Monday). On Dec 16, 2014, six terrorists affiliated with the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) had stormed the APS and martyred 147 students and teachers. It was the deadliest attack in the country’s history. The carnage prompted the government to declare an all-out war against the terrorist outfits. In the wake of the attack, military courts were set up for trying terrorists under amendments made to the Constitution and the Army Act.Pakistan army said the six militants, who were involved in the attack, had been executed. The military courts, established soon after the attack, awarded death sentences to 310 militants and 56 of them have been executed so far, said a statement issued by the Pak Army. The mastermind of the APS massacre, Umar Mansour (alias Khalifa Mansour and later known as Umar Naray), was killed in a drone strike in Afghanistan. Ten years on – despite the counter-terrorism National Action Plan (NAP) that was chalked out days after the APS massacre and other security strategies – some parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhawa remain a relatively easy target for militants. The massacre changed the perception of Pakistan against terrorism and people in the country raised voices for a uniformed action against all types of militancy. Following the attack, political parties and security departments formed the National Action Plan to stem extremism and terrorism. Later, Pakistani parliament unanimously approved the formation of military courts for speedy trials of the hardcore terrorists.
