11th anniversary of APS Peshawar attack today

File Photo (X/@sohailnoorkhan)

Pakistan is observing the 11th anniversary of the devastating terrorist attack on Army Public School (APS) Peshawar that claimed the lives of more than 140 people, including 134 schoolchildren, in one of the darkest days in the country’s history.

On December 16, 2014, six terrorists affiliated with the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) stormed the APS campus and martyred 147 students and teachers. The brutal assault sent shockwaves across the nation and remains the deadliest terrorist attack Pakistan has ever witnessed.

The massacre prompted the state to launch an all-out war against terrorism. In its aftermath, the government introduced constitutional amendments and changes to the Army Act, leading to the establishment of military courts for the speedy trial of terrorists.

According to the Pakistan Army, the six militants involved in the APS attack were later executed. Military courts set up after the tragedy awarded death sentences to 310 militants involved in acts of terrorism. The mastermind of the APS massacre, Umar Mansour — also known as Khalifa Mansour and later Umar Naray — was killed in a drone strike in Afghanistan.

Despite the formulation of the National Action Plan (NAP) and other counterterrorism measures in the wake of the APS tragedy, security challenges persist. Eleven years on, some areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa continue to remain vulnerable to militant activity.

The APS massacre fundamentally changed Pakistan’s perception of terrorism, uniting the nation in demanding decisive and uniform action against all forms of militancy. Political parties and security institutions came together to implement NAP, aiming to curb extremism and restore peace.

On the day of the attack, the terrorists entered the school compound by scaling a wall during mid-morning hours when more than 1,000 students and staff were present. After detonating explosives to divert security attention, they stormed the assembly hall and classrooms, opening indiscriminate fire on students and teachers, leaving an indelible scar on the nation’s collective memory.