Pakistan on Wednesday began burying 132 students killed in a grisly attack on their school by Taliban militants that has heaped pressure on the government to do more to tackle an increasingly aggressive Taliban insurgency.
The authorities, long accused of not being tough enough on extremists, quickly pointed the finger at Afghanistan, suggesting the neighbouring nation was not doing enough to catch Pakistani Taliban commanders hiding on its territory.
People across Pakistan lit candles and staged vigils as parents bade final farewells to their children during mass funerals in and around Peshawar, the volatile city on the edge of Pakistan's lawless tribal belt.
Anger mixed with the grief as people looked to the authorities to act decisively. In an apparent response to public opinion after what may have been the deadliest militant attack in Pakistani history, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif announced he had lifted a moratorium on the death penalty.
At a vigil in the capital Islamabad, Fatimah Khan, 38, said she was devastated by the atrocity.
"I don't have words for my pain and anger," she said. "They slaughtered those children like animals.
"Sixteen-year-old Naba Mehdi, who attends the Army School in the nearby garrison city of Rawalpindi, had a message of defiance for the Taliban.
"We're not scared of you," she said. "We will still study and fight for our freedom. This is our war."
When asked what the government should do, her mother interrupted: "Hang them. Hang them all without mercy."
The focus was on Army Chief Raheel Sharif as he visited Afghanistan, where the two sides - whose relationship is strained after decades of mistrust - discussed how to crack down on militants hiding on their common border.
0 Comments