By — Larisa Epatko Larisa Epatko Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/know-school-shooting-pakistan Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter What we know about the school shooting in Pakistan World Dec 16, 2014 10:25 AM EDT Updated at 2 p.m. EST | Taliban militants entered an army-run school in Peshawar, northwestern Pakistan, on Tuesday morning and shot dozens of students as they tried to flee to safety. At least 141 people were reported killed, many of them teenage students. Pakistani soldiers responded to the scene, firing back at the militants. All seven attackers, who were wearing explosive vests, died either in the firefight or by detonating their explosives. The operation appeared to be winding down by evening. A 16-year-old injured survivor said he played dead to avoid being killed by the gunmen: “I folded my tie and pushed it into my mouth so that I wouldn’t scream. The man with big boots kept on looking for students and pumping bullets into their bodies. I lay as still as I could and closed my eyes, waiting to get shot again.” Pakistani soldiers stand guard near the site of an attack by Taliban gunmen on a school in the northwestern city of Peshawar, Pakistan, on Dec. 16. Photo by Khan Raziq/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images Here’s what we know so far: The Tehrik-i-Taliban, a group trying to overthrow the Pakistani government, perpetrated the assault. They have stepped up attacks since the Pakistani government launched a military operation in June aimed at rooting out militants in the North Waziristan tribal region. Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said Tuesday that the government would not be intimidated by the militants and would continue with its military operation. President Barack Obama issued a statement condemning the “horrific attack.” “By targeting students and teachers in this heinous attack, terrorists have once again shown their depravity,” he said. Secretary of State John Kerry said while on a trip to London that parents sent their children to the military academy to learn, be safe and find opportunity. “Instead, today they are gone, wiped away by Taliban assassins who serve a dark and almost medieval vision.” UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova called it a “crime against the future of all children and the nation of Pakistan. … Terror will not silence the millions of voices around the world that are demanding education to be a right and for schools to be safe.” Malala Yousafzai, a 17-year-old education activist who herself was shot by the Taliban while she was coming home from school, said in a statement that she was “heartbroken by this senseless and cold-blooded act of terror. … I, along with millions of others around the world, mourn these children, my brothers and sisters — but we will never be defeated.” The Twitter hashtag #IndiawithPakistan sprung up in the aftermath of the shooting, along the same lines as #illridewithyou after the Sydney café siege earlier this week. The tag is meant to show solidarity between the two nations that are usually at odds with each other and express the notion that nothing justifies the killing of innocent children. Follow @NewsHourWorld By — Larisa Epatko Larisa Epatko Larisa Epatko produced multimedia web features and broadcast reports with a focus on foreign affairs for the PBS NewsHour. She has reported in places such as Jordan, Pakistan, Iraq, Haiti, Sudan, Western Sahara, Guantanamo Bay, China, Vietnam, South Korea, Turkey, Germany and Ireland. @NewsHourWorld
Updated at 2 p.m. EST | Taliban militants entered an army-run school in Peshawar, northwestern Pakistan, on Tuesday morning and shot dozens of students as they tried to flee to safety. At least 141 people were reported killed, many of them teenage students. Pakistani soldiers responded to the scene, firing back at the militants. All seven attackers, who were wearing explosive vests, died either in the firefight or by detonating their explosives. The operation appeared to be winding down by evening. A 16-year-old injured survivor said he played dead to avoid being killed by the gunmen: “I folded my tie and pushed it into my mouth so that I wouldn’t scream. The man with big boots kept on looking for students and pumping bullets into their bodies. I lay as still as I could and closed my eyes, waiting to get shot again.” Pakistani soldiers stand guard near the site of an attack by Taliban gunmen on a school in the northwestern city of Peshawar, Pakistan, on Dec. 16. Photo by Khan Raziq/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images Here’s what we know so far: The Tehrik-i-Taliban, a group trying to overthrow the Pakistani government, perpetrated the assault. They have stepped up attacks since the Pakistani government launched a military operation in June aimed at rooting out militants in the North Waziristan tribal region. Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said Tuesday that the government would not be intimidated by the militants and would continue with its military operation. President Barack Obama issued a statement condemning the “horrific attack.” “By targeting students and teachers in this heinous attack, terrorists have once again shown their depravity,” he said. Secretary of State John Kerry said while on a trip to London that parents sent their children to the military academy to learn, be safe and find opportunity. “Instead, today they are gone, wiped away by Taliban assassins who serve a dark and almost medieval vision.” UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova called it a “crime against the future of all children and the nation of Pakistan. … Terror will not silence the millions of voices around the world that are demanding education to be a right and for schools to be safe.” Malala Yousafzai, a 17-year-old education activist who herself was shot by the Taliban while she was coming home from school, said in a statement that she was “heartbroken by this senseless and cold-blooded act of terror. … I, along with millions of others around the world, mourn these children, my brothers and sisters — but we will never be defeated.” The Twitter hashtag #IndiawithPakistan sprung up in the aftermath of the shooting, along the same lines as #illridewithyou after the Sydney café siege earlier this week. The tag is meant to show solidarity between the two nations that are usually at odds with each other and express the notion that nothing justifies the killing of innocent children. Follow @NewsHourWorld