PESHAWAR: Close relatives of the people who were killed when Taliban gunmen stormed the Army Public School (APS), Peshawar, gathered at the institution on Friday to mark the second anniversary of the atrocity.

More than 140 people, mostly students, were killed when the heavily armed terrorists ran through the institution on Dec 16, 2014, firing indiscriminately.

To express solidarity with the grieving parents and spouses and to assure the nation of their resolve to take the fight to the Taliban and other militants, the governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the army chief attended the solemn event.

Speaking on the occasion, General Qamar Javed Bajwa described the attack on innocent students as an assault on humanity itself.

With most of those present in tears, Gen Bajwa said: “I have kept the pictures of the martyred students in my office so I remember the great loss.”

He said the children killed in that attack and thousands of others who sacrificed their lives in the fight against terrorists would never be forgotten.

“While our hearts go out to the affected families, I personally draw my motivation from this huge sacrifice,” he said.

The terrorists tried to demoralise the nation and the armed forces by attacking the softest of targets, he said. “But my message to the enemies of our country is that our resolve is unflinching and we will chase these savages to their last bastion and will not rest until their elimination from every nook and corner of the motherland.”

He said the authorities were doing their best to render necessary assistance to the affected families and that all such efforts would continue.

Education was nothing but a prerequisite for progress of any nation and the army would continue to contribute towards provision of quality education, he said.

The armed forces were the guarantors of defence of the country and the army would not leave any stone unturned to fulfil its duty, Gen Bajwa said.

He laid a wreath at the martyrs’ monument on the APS premises and offered Fateha for the departed souls.

Meanwhile, the anniversary of the gory attack coincided with the confirmation of death sentences awarded to 13 hardcore terrorists by the army chief.

The mastermind of the APS massacre, Umar Mansoor alias Khalifa Mansoor alias Umar Naray, was killed along with another militant Qari Saifullah in a US drone strike in Afghanistan in July.

Published in Dawn, December 17th, 2016