Peshawar school massacre, terrorist attack in which seven heavily armed Taliban fighters stormed an army-run primary and secondary school in Peshawar, Pakistan, on December 16, 2014, killing 150 people, of whom at least 134 were students.
Army Public School 16 December 2014 Black Day History
When the nightmare unfolded, teachers and students of the Army Public School Peshawar had just returned to their classes after recess. Some students, including 18-year-old Yasir Iqbal, gathered in the large auditorium and were attentively listening to a lecture.
Eighth-grader Uzair Ali saw the attackers and leaped to shield his friends by lying on top of them. He was killed; shot 13 times, but he managed to save his companions.
Fourteen-year-old Fahad Hussain opened a door so his friends could run out. He stayed by the door making sure everyone was evacuated. He was gunned down while doing so.
At the time of the incident, the Army Public School held more than 1,000 staff members and students; many of the pupils were children of military personnel.
The attack was estimated to have lasted about eight hours. Even as it continued, alarmed parents gathered at the gates of the school compound. According to various reports, 150 people were killed by the gunmen, and more than 100 were injured.
In the view of knowledgeable observers, the most probable provocation was Operation Zarb-e-Azb, a government anti-militant offensive in North Waziristan, one of Pakistan’s tribal regions.
