Schools in Pakistan’s Peshawar reopen after Taliban massacre

Child survivors of Pakistan’s worst ever terrorist attack returned to the school where Taliban militants massacred their classmates Monday, with both the students and their parents expressing a mixture of defiance and apprehension. The December 16 attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar by a group of gunmen and suicide bombers claimed the lives of 150 people, mostly children, and prompted a bout of national soul-searching even in a country used to high levels of militancy. Across the country, schools had remained shut for an extended winter break as authorities beefed up security measures.

My heart has been broken. All the class fellows I had, have died, now my heart does not want to attend school… I will sit in the empty class.

6-year-old Shahrukh Khan, who was shot in both legs while pretending to play dead in his school’s auditorium

At least 20 soldiers were seen at the main entry point of the Army Public School, with an airport-style security gate installed at the front. Elevated boundary walls with steel wire fencing have been put in place in some schools around Peshawar and nationwide as staff rang bells to signal the start of the day. Raheel Sharif, the head of Pakistan’s powerful army, made an unannounced visit with his wife, greeting students with handshakes and hugs.

I am not scared, no force can stop me from going to attend my school, I will go and will tell the attackers, ‘we are not afraid of you’.

16-year-old Zahid Ayub

Asia-Pacific Peshawar