{"id":74724,"date":"2014-12-17T07:05:04","date_gmt":"2014-12-17T07:05:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=74724"},"modified":"2014-12-17T07:05:04","modified_gmt":"2014-12-17T07:05:04","slug":"pakistan-mourns-school-dead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/12\/pakistan-mourns-school-dead\/","title":{"rendered":"Pakistan mourns its school dead"},"content":{"rendered":"
The Pakistani city of Peshawar is burying its dead after a Taliban attack at a school killed at least 132 children and nine staff.<\/p>\n
Mourners crowded around coffins bedecked with flowers, while other families waited at hospitals for news.<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif declared three days of mourning and Pakistan’s army struck at militants in the region.<\/p>\n
Mr Sharif also convened a meeting of all parliamentary parties in Peshawar to discuss the response to the attack.<\/p>\n
The meeting on Wednesday was called to show that the whole nation stood against extremism, Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid told reporters.<\/p>\n
World leaders voiced disgust at the Taliban’s deadliest attack to date, which even its Afghan allies disowned.<\/p>\n
According to the army, Tuesday’s attack was carried out by seven Taliban attackers, all wearing bomb vests.<\/p>\n
They cut through a wire fence to enter the school from the rear and attacked an auditorium where children were taking an exam.<\/p>\n
Gunmen then went from classroom to classroom at the military-run school, shooting pupils and teachers where they found them, survivors say.<\/p>\n
The siege at Peshawar’s Army Public School, which teaches boys and girls from both military and civilian backgrounds, lasted eight hours.<\/p>\n
A total of 125 people were wounded, according to the army before all seven attackers were killed. Hundreds of people were evacuated.<\/p>\n
The Pakistani Taliban sought to justify the attack by saying it was revenge for the army’s ongoing campaign against them. The school was chosen as a target, the militants said, because their families had also suffered heavy losses.<\/p>\n
In line with the Islamic custom, mourners began burying victims as darkness fell.<\/p>\n
The bier carrying the shrouded body of one teacher was strewn with flowers as men crowded around it.<\/p>\n