Army Public School: ISPR denies 11 terrorists mounted school assault

The figure is cited in a K-P police report, but ISPR says they were only seven

ISLAMABAD: Army’s media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations, on Tuesday rejected reports which said eleven terrorists were involved in the December 16 attack on Army Public School  – an incident in which more than 130 children were killed.

Writing on micro-blogging website, Twitter, the ISPR chief Major Gen Asim Bajwa said: “The rumour of 11 terrorists in Peshawar attack is baseless. Seven terrorists, who carried out the barbaric act on the school, were killed [and their] bodies are under custody.”

Sources said the news regarding eleven terrorists was based on a report prepared by Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Police’s Counter Terrorism Department (CTD), which claimed that the number of assailants was eleven, including two foreign nationals.

According to the report seven militants entered the school building while four others assisted them from outside.

“The group had entered the provincial capital from Khyber Agency in a vehicle bearing registration number E-187 ISLAMABAD and used a ladder to jump inside the school building,” said the report, adding that the culprits spent the night at a nearby mosque.

According to the report, six of the attackers have been identified. “They include two Afghan nationals, two Khyber Agency residents and two residents of district Swat.”

Meanwhile, security officials said some suspects have been arrested from district Bannu and Tehkal area of the provincial capital and shifted to undisclosed location for further investigation.

Casualties rise

Meanwhile, another injured student breathed his last at Combined Military Hospital (CMH) Peshawar on Tuesday, taking the death toll of children to 134 and the overall total to 150.

According to officials, Ibrar Zahid, a high school student had sustained serious wounds during the terrorists’ attack on the APS. “Soon after the attack, Ibrar was shifted to CMH but he could not sustain his injuries and died on Tuesday,” said a security official, while requesting anonymity.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 24^th, 2014.