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Pakistan Lifts Death Penalty Ban Following School Massacre Pakistani Army Chief Asks Afghans to Help Find Taliban Commanders Behind Massacre
(about 1 hour later)
PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan lifted a moratorium on the death penalty Wednesday as the government declared three days of official mourning and grappled with the aftermath of an attack on a school by the Pakistani Taliban that killed 145 people. PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Pakistan’s army chief, Gen. Raheel Sharif, traveled to Afghanistan on Wednesday to seek help in locating the Pakistani Taliban commanders who orchestrated the massacre at a Peshawar school on Tuesday in which 148 people, mostly schoolchildren, were killed.
The national flag was lowered to half-staff on all official buildings and prayer services were scheduled across the country. General Sharif and the head of the Inter-Services Intelligence spy agency, Lt. Gen. Rizwan Akhtar, flew to Kabul, the capital, for meetings with President Ashraf Ghani and Gen. John F. Campbell, the commander of American and NATO forces in Afghanistan, the Pakistani military said.
Gen. Raheel Sharif, the country’s army chief, and officials from the provincial government attended a funeral service for the victims at the Corps Headquarters in Peshawar, the volatile northwestern city where the attack took place on Tuesday. The sudden trip came as Pakistanis united in horror and grief at Tuesday’s assault, in which Taliban gunmen stormed the Army Public School and Degree College, firing randomly, throwing grenades and lining up some students to be executed. Of the 148 fatalities, 132 were students.
General Sharif later left to visit Kabul, the Afghan capital, for a “special visit,” a Pakistani military spokesman said. General Sharif was accompanied by the Pakistani intelligence chief, Lt. Gen. Rizwan Akhtar. “He will meet Afghanistan president and ISAF commander and will return to Peshawar,” the military said in a statement, referring to the International Security Assistance Force. Journalists were shown around the blood-splattered school buildings where the killings took place. Clothes, shoes and schoolbooks were scattered about the deserted hallways. One military officer wept as he accompanied a reporter around the scene.
All businesses and schools in the city were closed, and long lines of vehicles were backed up on the roads, delayed by security checkpoints and barricades. The government declared three days of mourning, the national flag was lowered to half-staff on all official buildings, and prayer services were scheduled across the country.
Banners expressing solidarity with the victims’ families and condemning the attack were displayed across the city’s main squares. Student organizations were planning to hold candle vigils later in the evening. Pakistan’s fractious military and political leaders also resolved to strike back against the Taliban. For the army, that involved pointing to their sanctuary in Afghanistan.
A moratorium on the death penalty has been in place since 2008, and governments have been reluctant to lift it, fearing a backlash from the militants. But the attack in Peshawar appears to have altered their thinking. In its statement, the military said that General Sharif had shared vital elements of intelligence with the Afghan president and American commander in Kabul.
A team of nine Taliban gunmen stormed the school, the Army Public School and Degree College, on Tuesday, firing randomly, throwing grenades and lining up some students to be executed. Of the 145 fatalities, 132 were students. Mr. Ghani assured the Pakistanis of his cooperation against the Taliban, the statement said. There was no immediate reaction from Afghan or American officials in Kabul.
The Taliban said the attack had been retaliation for the military’s operation against the group in the North Waziristan tribal region. A senior security official in Peshawar, speaking on the condition of anonymity before the meeting, said Pakistan possessed hard proof that Tuesday’s attack had been coordinated by Taliban commanders hiding on Afghan soil.
Muhammad Khurasani, the Taliban spokesman, said the school had been selected for the attack because it serves predominantly children of military personnel. “The intel monitored the conversation between the attackers and their handler who was across the border during the siege,” the official said. “The chief would be demanding action.”
Pakistan has long contended that the leader of the Pakistani Taliban, Maulana Fazlullah, is hiding in the mountainous eastern Afghan provinces of Kunar and Nuristan. Last year, Afghan officials admitted to helping Mr. Fazlullah, largely as payback for Pakistani support for the Afghan Taliban.
But relations between the two countries have visibly warmed since September, when Mr. Ghani came to power, and in recent weeks some reports have suggested that American airstrikes inside Afghanistan had targeted Pakistani Taliban leaders.
The other element of Pakistan’s militant problem, however, lies within — namely the military’s history of favoring some Islamist groups while fighting others. In Peshawar, Mr. Sharif said that policy was ending. “We announce that there will be no differentiation between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ Taliban,” he said.
The Pakistani Taliban, for their part, named the commander responsible for the attack as Omar Mansoor, the Taliban commander for Peshawar and Darra Adam Khel, a nearby tribal district known for its gunsmiths.
In a statement on Wednesday, the militants released photos that showed six armed men, described as the attackers, wearing military fatigues and gripping assault rifles, standing alongside Mr. Mansoor. A Taliban spokesman, Mohammed Khurasani, warned of further attacks unless the army ceased a six-month-old offensive against militants in the North Waziristan tribal district.
Pakistan’s leaders spent the early part of the day grieving for those killed on Tuesday. Before traveling to Kabul, General Sharif attended a service for victims at the army headquarters in Peshawar. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who held a meeting with opposition political leaders in the city, announced that he was lifting a moratorium on the death penalty that has been in place since 2008.
Sitting grim-faced beside the prime minister was Imran Khan, the opposition leader who has spent the past four months trying to oust Mr. Sharif over vote-rigging accusations. In response to the crisis, Mr. Khan has agreed to suspend his street campaign.
It was not clear, however, whether the Pakistani response would focus primarily on the Afghan sanctuary or whether it would, as analysts say is urgently needed, also examine the deep flaws in Pakistan’s own counterterrorism policy.
Pakistani security officials in Peshawar initially reported that there were nine attackers on Tuesday, but on Wednesday they dropped that figure to seven. Mr. Khurasani, the Taliban spokesman, said the school had been selected for attack because it served predominantly children of military personnel.
“Our shura decided to target these enemies of Islam right in their homes so they can feel the pain of losing their children,” he said.“Our shura decided to target these enemies of Islam right in their homes so they can feel the pain of losing their children,” he said.
In Peshawar, all businesses and schools were closed, and long lines of vehicles were backed up on the roads, delayed by security checkpoints and barricades.
Banners expressing solidarity with the victims’ families and condemning the attack were displayed across the city’s main squares. Student organizations were planning to hold candlelight vigils later in the evening.
Security remained high in the city, which has a long history of Taliban attacks. Security officials barred vehicles without proper documentation from entering.
Many residents visited relatives and friends who had lost their sons in the attack.
“I lost everything,” said Muhammad Rizwan, whose son Maher was shot to death, as he received condolences from visitors at his home.
“Without my son, life has become meaningless for me,” he said.