Pakistan re-introduces death penalty following school attack

The Pakistani prime minister lifted a moratorium on the death penalty on Wednesday after Taliban gunmen attacked a school on Tuesday, killing 132 students and nine teachers, a government spokesman said.

Referring to prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s approval of the decision, government spokesman Mohiuddin Wan said: “It was decided that this moratorium should be lifted. The prime minister approved. Black warrants will be issued within a day or two.”

He did not give any details about who might be executed under such orders.

Pakistan woke up to a day of mourning on Wednesday after Taliban militants killed 141 people at a school in the city of Peshawar on Tuesday.

People around the country lit candles and staged overnight vigils as parents of the 132 students killed prepared to bury their children during mass funerals in and around Peshawar, a volatile city on the edge of Pakistan’s lawless tribal belt.

In Peshawar, the vast grounds of the military-run Army Public School were all but deserted, with a handful of snipers manning the roofs of its pink brick-and-stone buildings.

Army vehicles and soldiers wearing face masks and carrying automatic rifles were deployed by the entrance.

A day after the attack, Peshawar appeared subdued and many were still in shock, recalling the gruesome events and trying to soothe each other. More details of the well-organised attack emerged as witnesses came forward with their stories.

"The attackers came around 10.30am on a pick-up van," said Issam Uddin, a 25-year-old school bus driver.

“They drove it around the back of the school and set it on fire to block the way. Then they went to Gate 1 and killed a soldier, a gatekeeper and a gardener. Firing began and the first suicide attack took place.”

Government pressure

The attack, in which 132 students and nine others were killed, has put pressure on the government to do more to tackle the insurgency.

The government of Mr Sharif announced a three-day mourning period, but people’s anxiety focused on what the authorities can do to protect the country.

“People will have to stop equivocating and come together in the face of national tragedy,” said Sherry Rehman, a former ambassador to the United States and an opposition politician.

“There have been national leaders who been apologetic about the Taliban, who have not named the Taliban in their speeches.”

The military staged more air strikes against Taliban positions there late on Tuesday, a security source said, but it was unclear whether it was done in response to the school attack.

The Pakistani Taliban, who are fighting to impose strict Islamic rule in Pakistan, are holed up in the inaccessible mountains straddling the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

Reuters