Peshawar: Around 1,500 children of the Army Public School and College on Warsak Road in Peshawar were attending the fourth period of the day and the higher classes were undergoing the first-aid training in the main hall when they heard some gunshots and were instructed by their teachers to get down on the floor.
Gunmen in Frontier Constabulary uniforms entered the school from behind the premises and started firing indiscriminately, killing 132 and injuring more than 240 others.
“We were told by teacher: ‘get down on the floor’. Troops arrived after some time and rescued us, but I saw many of my friends dead or critically wounded in the corridors,” said Ahsan, a Grade 12 pupil whose school was attacked by militants early Tuesday.
The school is located on the road that leads to the once troubled Mohmand tribal agency. More than a dozen other popular private and public schools are located in the vicinity, a few of which were attacked in the past.
“The attackers entered the hall and opened indiscriminate fire. I received a bullet in my leg and went under the desk,” said Tariq, a pupil at the LRH where he was being treated for bullet wounds.
Stayed on floor
“All those who moved outside of the desks received more bullets so I remained on the floor despite the pain,” he added.
Tariq and other wounded children were moved to the hospital after the troops arrived.
“My son Saad was rescued by the troops. He managed to call me from someone’s phone when he was moved to the park in the Defence Officers Colony. However, my other son Haroon was missing for long,” said Waqar Ahmad, a police officer.
The father could relax only when Haroon was also reunited with the family by the troops. “Saad is shocked. He saw the school sweeper shot dead brutally,” Waqar said.
As parents were hugging and kissing their kids after they were rescued by the troops, many mothers were seen running from one place to another to hear anything about their children.
Female teachers were seen crying as they came out of the school and handed over the surviving children to their families.
— Javed Aziz Khan is a journalist based in Peshawar
