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Massacre ... a Pakistani soldier walks amid the debris in an army-run school a day after an attack by Taliban militants in Peshawar. Picture: AFP Source: AFP
PAKISTAN has unleashed its fury on the Taliban days after the bloody slaughter of more than 140 people — mostly children — in a school massacre.
Officials say jets and ground forces have killed 67 militants in a north-western tribal region near the Afghan border.
The news comes after Pakistani law enforcement officials released chilling transcripts of one of the last conversations a Talibani militant had with his handler after students at a Peshawar school were murdered.
“We have killed all the children in the auditorium. What do we do now?†one of the terrorists reportedly told his handler, according to the Telegraph.
“Wait for the army people, kill them before blowing yourself,†the handler responded.
In the wake of the mass killing, the military has struck targets in the Khyber tribal region and approved the death penalty for six convicted terrorists.
Pakistan has already hanged two convicted militants, Aqil alias Doctor Usman and Arshad Mehmoo, in Faisalabad jail — the first executions since 2008 when the country imposed a moratorium on the death penalty.
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Aftermath ... a Pakistani army officer stands by a wall riddled with bullet marks inside the Army Public School attacked by Taliban gunmen, in Peshawar, Pakistan. Picture: AP Source: AP
The military said its ground forces late on Thursday killed 10 militants while jets killed another 17, including an Uzbek commander.
Another 32 alleged terrorists were killed by security forces in an ambush in Tirah valley in Khyber on Friday as they headed toward the Afghan border, the military said.
Khyber agency is one of two main areas in the northwest where the military has been trying to root out militants in recent months.
Khyber borders Peshawar, where the school massacre happened, and militants have traditionally attacked the city before fleeing into the tribal region where police can’t chase them.
Pakistani security forces have killed more than 50 suspected militants following a Taliban school massacre.
The other area is North Waziristan, where the military launched a massive operation in June.
In the southern province of Baluchistan, Pakistani security forces killed a senior Pakistani Taliban leader along with seven of his associates in three separate pre-dawn raids, said a tribal police officer, Ali Ahmed.
Outrage ... Pakistani schoolgirls chant slogans during a protest to condemn Tuesday's Taliban attack on a military-run school in Peshawar, in Karachi, Pakistan. Picture: AP Source: AP
Army chief Gen. Raheel Sharif late on Thursday signed death warrants of six “hard core terrorists†convicted and sentenced to death by military courts, the army said.
It was unclear when the military planned to hang all six, but authorities generally move quickly once death warrants are signed.
Such executions are usually carried out at prisons under the supervision of army officers and then the bodies are handed over to relatives for burial. There was no information on the men or the crimes for which they were convicted.
Mourning ... Pakistani Muslims pray for children and teachers killed by Taliban militants. Picture: AFP Source: AFP
The news comes after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday announced that he would lift a moratorium on executions in terrorism-related cases.
The lifting of the moratorium was aimed at demonstrating the government’s resolve.
But the decision by an anti-terrorism court on Thursday to grant bail to the main suspect in the Mumbai attack, Zaki-ur-Rahman Lakhvi, called into question that commitment.
Condemnation ... members of the right-wing Hindu Sena burn a poster bearing images of Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, and Hafiz Muhammad Saeed and Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, who are accused for planning the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Picture: AFP Source: AFP
Lakhvi is one of seven people on trial in Pakistan for the assault, but the trial has produced no results so far. It has been closed to the media.
India reacted with outrage to news of Lakhvi’s pending release.
Special public prosecutor Abu Zar Peerzada said he would appeal to the High Court to cancel the bail and said Lakhvi had not yet been released.