ISLAMABAD: United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon telephoned Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday to extend condolences on the Dec 16 Taliban attack on the Army Public School (APS) in Peshawar.

The UN chief said the entire international community condemned this barbaric act and stood with Pakistan in this challenging hour.

The APS massacre left 150 people, most students, dead. The carnage brought the political and military leadership on one platform and they prepared a National Action Plan to root out the scourge of terrorism from the country. One of the decisions announced by the prime minister in a televised speech late on Wednesday night allows setting up of speedy military courts to conduct trial of suspected terrorists.

Published in Dawn, December 26th, 2014