Peshawar terror attack: Pak Army retaliates against Taliban

Peshawar, Dec 17: In a rerun of the post-9/11 scenario when the United States launched a massive retaliation against Afghanistan to punish Osama bin Laden after the strikes on twin towers in New York, the Pakistani military on Wednesday started bombings in the border region strongholds in retaliation for the ghastly killing of over 130 children in an army-run school in Peshawar on Tuesday. A report in The Guardian said.

At least 10 air strikes were carried out against the Taliban. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said the Zarb-e-Azb offensive against the Taliban in Pakistan would continue.

Over 140 people were killed in what constituted one of the worst acts of violence in the history of Pakistan. Seven suicide assassins of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan stormed the school and began reckless shooting. It took seven to eight hours before the terror threat was negated completely. While some of the killers were killed by commandos, others had blown themselves up.

The TTP later claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was a revenge against the army offensive in the tribal areas since the summer that has left an estimated 1,000 militants dead and several thousands displaced.

That Islamabad was preparing for a massive retaliation became clear when Pakistan's Army Chief General Raheel Khan said in a tweet that massive air strikes had been conducted against targets in the Khyber region, a tribal agency near Peshawar.

General Khan said the terrorists had hit the heart of Pakistan and it had only strengthened their resolve to fight the menace.

The Pakistani Army carried out at least 10 air strikes

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif also vowed a military offensive that took off in the summer to defeat the Taliban bases in North Waziristan, a semi-autonomous tribal belt bordering Afghanistan.

Oneindia News