'I Consider All the Dead My Children': Mass Funerals in Peshawar

As news of the killings spread on Tuesday parents and family members rushed to the Army Public School in Peshawar.
 
They hoped to find their child alive.
 
Rehan Khan is here to find out news of his nephew.
 
“I pray to Allah that my nephew is safe.  It is not human to attack school and kill children. We are innocent and I don’t know why the militants kill us. I don’t consider them Muslims.”

His nephew was among the dead.
 
One of the first one who has escaped alive was this boy. 
 
He is frightened and doesn’t want to give his name. He says gunmen walked from class to class shooting students.
 
“I hid, after one hour a solider came and rescued me. None of the terrorist came inside the classroom where I was hiding. I heard them killing students outside the class room. I saw six or seven terrorists who were killed. I do not know whether I would live or die. I have seen big guns like the ones they were carrying.”
 
The injured, over 100 children, were rushed here to the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH).

15 year old Zeeshan Khan is lying on a hospital bed. His leg and arm have bullet wounds.
 
“Terrorists cannot defeat us. I am not seriously injured I have small wounds and I will go to college soon. Terrorist may come again to attack and even then I will go again to my college. The terrorists cannot stop us from going to school.”

11 year old Sohail Tariq Jan was preparing to take an exam when the militants attacked the school.

“I heard firing for thirty minutes and then a hand grenade exploding. The army personnel took us to a safe area and then I heard more blasts. After an hour, I found out that two of my brothers were killed in the attack . We were very close.”
 
Dr Zahir Shah is taking care of the injured alongside volunteer doctors.
 
“Most of the students are shot in head and chest with three to four bullets. All the doctors have closed their private clinics and are now working here in the hospital. We have declared an emergency in our hospital.”
 
Hundreds of people have also rushed to the hospital to donate blood.
 
The blood bank filled thousands of blood bags in just three hours following the shooting.
 
Shahin Shah who is a rare O Negative said he wanted to help in some way.
 
“Blood is precious.  The Taliban militants shed our blood while we donate blood to our people. I will do whatever I can for my people.”
 
The Pakistani Taliban (TTP) said they had carried out the attack against the Army Public School to avenge army-led operations against them in the Khyber and North Waziristan areas.
 
Around 1000 militants have been killed in the military operation in tribal areas.
 
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif says they will now intensify that operation.

And said they will ensure the deaths of the children were not wasted.

“We believe there is now no distinction between ‘good and bad Taliban’ and that the country is now united in the fight against the menace of terrorism. To defeat it we must unite…our armed forces have given many sacrifices to defeat terrorists and root out their hideouts. This fight will continue until all terrorists are defeated.”
 
He also announced an end to the moratorium on the death penalty for terrorism cases. 

The scene outside the Army Public School now is deathly quiet.

There are no shouting and grieving parents - by now they have discovered their fate, and those who lost their children are preparing the funerals.

I am inside Army Public School. Books and shoes are spread all around the school and covered with blood and dust.

The principal office is completely destroyed as one of the suicide bombers blew himself up.

A smell of flesh and bone is prevailed in the air because one of the female teachers was burnt alive. The school canteen still has burgers and fast food ready for children to eat in the half-break.

There is blood on floor of every class room you can’t walk through here without crying. The floor of the school auditorium is completely covered in blood.

The brutality in this school is the bloodiest sight I have ever seen in my forty years of life.

All main cities and business centers are closed and there is mourning in almost every house.

Humayun Khan Tarngzai is burying his nephews.
 
“First, the militants kill our young people and now they start killing our children. They killed two of my nephews but I consider all of the dead are my children.”