Innocents murdered ... a combination of photos provided by their families shows some of the students of the Army Public School who were killed in the Taliban massacre. Picture: AP Photo/Family photographs Source: AP

One boy had just gotten high marks on his midterm and hoped to become a pilot.

A 13-year-old wanted to become a doctor.

Another kid just loved playing video games with his cousins.

At cemeteries across the Pakistani city of Peshawar, families lowered the rough wooden coffins of young boys and their teachers into the cold ground and gathered under funeral tents or at home, trying to comprehend the militant attack a day earlier on a school that killed 148 people, almost all of them young students.

Teens targeted ... a relative of Hassan Zed, who was killed in the Taliban attack on a military-run school, shows his photo, in Peshawar, Pakistan. Picture: AP Source: AP

INSIDE THE ATTACK: SADISTIC GAMES OF TALIBAN KILLERS

Across Pakistan, mourners held candlelight vigils in solidarity with the Peshawar victims.

In Peshawar, families were simply trying to cope with their grief.

LUCKY ESCAPE: HOW MY BROTHER AVOIDED MASSACRE

“My son was a brilliant student,” Haji Dost Muhammad said of his son Asad, who received a gold medal just weeks ago for his midterm scores.

The boy was shot in the back and killed, the family learned.

He “wanted to be a pilot,” his father said, “but his soul flew from his body before he could fly a plane.”

Aurangzeb Khan sat with photos of his son Hassan on the floor in front of him in the family living room, he described how he rushed to the school on Tuesday looking for any word on his children.

Wanted to be a pilot ... Aurangzeb shows picture of his son Hassan, who was killed in the Taliban attack on a military-run school in Peshawar, Pakistan. Picture: AP Source: AP

One of his elder sons searched hospitals to see if Hassan was wounded, but found his brother’s body instead.

Another father buried his 13-year-old son, Muhammad Haris, in the Peshawar suburbs.

The boy dreamed of becoming a doctor, said his father, Ghulam ud Din, a retired military man.

He pointed toward the fresh grave.

“But today I buried both the body of my son and his dream here in this graveyard.”

Massacre victim. Sayed Shah shows a picture of his son Zulqarnain, 17, who was killed in the Taliban attack. Picture: AP Source: AP

The Pakistani government and military vowed to step up a campaign aimed at rooting out militant strongholds in the country’s tribal regions along the border with Afghanistan.

In a sign of how deeply the attack shook Pakistan, the head of the military flew to Kabul and sought help from the Afghan government — which with Islamabad has long had a tense relationship — against militant commanders behind the attack, a Pakistani military official told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Mother murdered ... Student Mohammad Baqair survived the attack, but his mother, a teacher, was killed in the Taliban massacre. Picture: AP Source: AP

In downtown Peshawar, the family of Shyer Khan, a 14-year-old student killed on Tuesday, gathered to comfort his father, who was too overwhelmed by grief to talk.

Shyer’s older brother, Muneeb, was in the auditorium when gunmen burst through the doors Tuesday morning, took the stage and began shooting randomly. He fell to the floor and pretended to be dead.

“There was so much bloodshed,” Muneeb said softly.

“I closed my eyes and lay on the floor for an hour.”

When the militants moved on to other parts of the school, he escaped through a door.

His younger brother, however, was in a nearby classroom and was killed when the militants burst in and opened fire.

Tragic ... a girl's shoe lies on the floor in the bloodied ceremony hall at the school. Pakistan is holding three days of mourning for the 132 schoolchildren and nine staff killed by the Taliban. Picture: AFP Source: AFP

At the gathering in the Khans’ home, his family spoke of how Shyer was a fan of video games like Call of Duty and teasing his sisters.

In Tuesday’s attack on the military-run school, the militants first set fire to a car in a nearby neighbourhood, likely as a diversion, residents said.

Seven gunmen then scaled the school’s brick fence. They headed into the building and up the stairs to the auditorium, where many students were gathered.

They broke open the doors, took to the stage and started indiscriminately firing, said military spokesman Maj. Gen. Asim Bajwa.

Survivors ... students Waqar Ahmad, left, and Uwais Naser, with an image of headmaster Tahira Kazi, 58, who was killed in the attack. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen) Source: AP

The school building still shows signs of the attack, with large pools of blood smeared on the floors and walls riddled with bullets.

A ninth-grader’s notebook lay torn on the stage, next to a psychology textbook and some broken glasses.

Maj Gen Bajwa said the military recovered about 100 bodies from the auditorium.

Gunmen ... a wall riddled with bulletholes after the attack. Picture: AP Source: AP

In the administration building, where Maj Gen Bajwa said the final gunbattle between security forces and the militants took place, the walls were covered with bullet and shrapnel marks.

Streaks of blood and soot marked where some of the attackers blew themselves up.

The floor was covered with shards of glass, pieces of clothing, pottery and torn flowers.

Outside was a small pile of body parts.

Nation mourns ... People light candles during a vigil for the victims in Islamabad. Picture: AFP Source: AFP

The Pakistani Taliban, which has waged an insurrection against the government for a decade, claimed responsibility.

The group says it was seeking revenge for a military assault launched in June in North Waziristan.

Pakistan has often been accused by Afghanistan of tolerating or protecting Afghan Taliban or other militants on its soil as a way to pursue its interests in its neighbour, while only trying to crack down on militants who attack Pakistani targets, like the Pakistani Taliban.

Paying tribute ... Pakistan mourners gather outside the school gate. Picture: AFP Source: AFP

But in the wake of Tuesday’s bloodshed, Prime Ministawsgdfgher Nawaz Sharif used is strongest language yet vowing there will be no discrimination between “good or bad Taliban.”

“We will continue this war until even a single terrorist is not left on our soil,” he said.

Mr Sharif lifted a ban on the death penalty for terrorist crimes, which has been in place since 2008.

Aftermath ... a Pakistani woman looks at the damage inside the Army Public School. Picture: AP Source: AP

Military and civilian law enforcement officials also met to discuss the legal system’s “inadequacies in punishing terrorists”, he said.

Terrorism cases in Pakistan rarely end with convictions because of threats to judges and witnesses and poor investigations.