PESHAWAR: The third anniversary of the terrorist attack on Peshawar Army Public School (APS) will be observed on Saturday amidst tight security throughout Peshawar and other parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
About 150 people, including 138 students, were brutally murdered in a terror attack on APS on December 16, 2014, the responsibility of which was claimed by Qari Ehsanullah Ehsan, currently under detention.
A public holiday has been declared in all educational institutions of the country on December 16.
In commemoration of the tragedy, a programme has been arranged to be held in APS Peshawar on Saturday afternoon, in which representatives of the government and senior army officials are expected to participate. Another ceremony has been scheduled to be held in the Archives Hall Peshawar by the non-government organisation (NGO) Pakhtunkhwa Ollassi Tehrik.
Parents of the students martyred by the terrorists have also organised multiple ceremonies in their remembrance and have arranged for visits to be made to the students’ graves to place floral wreaths upon them and offer prayers.
The government has executed a number of facilitators in the Peshawar attack after trials in military courts. The Peshawar High Court recently decided against the release of Qari Ehsanullah Ehsan, after the parent of a student martyred in the APS attack apprehended a possible deal between the government and Ehsan and pleaded before the court to disallow any such development.
It is worth mentioning here that the parents of the martyred students of the APS attack have repeatedly shown disappointment over the government’s response to the catastrophe.