PESHAWAR: A group of students and teachers who survived a Taliban massacre at the Army Public School (APS) left on Monday for a trip to China aimed at healing the mental scars of their ordeal.

Heavily-armed militants stormed the APS in Peshawar in December, killing 150 people, most of them children.

The carnage horrified the world and left many survivors badly traumatised.

Now 10 students and two teachers who escaped the bloodshed have been sent on a 10-day trip to help them recover.

“The basic aim of the visit is to divert the attention of the survivors,” from the nightmare, a security official told AFP.

An APS official confirmed the visit and said that “more survivors will be sent in coming days to other countries”.

Both the officials spoke on condition of anonymity.

They said the decision was taken after psychiatrists suggested that survivors needed long-term therapy and mental health counselling.

The security official said the parents of children killed in the attack would be sent on pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia in the coming days.

Published in Dawn, February 3rd, 2015

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