Political elites’ express unity in the wake of the APS Peshawar tragedy to combat terrorism

PM Kakar, Shehbaz, Bilawal, Aleem remember martyrs of Dec 16 tragedy

Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar has said the terrorist attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar nine years ago strengthened the determination of the nation against terrorism.

In his message on the anniversary of the APS tragedy, caretaker PM Kakar said nine years ago, the enemy unsuccessfully tried to undermine the morale of the nation in the war against terrorism. It was a tragedy that moistened the eyes of the whole world.

He further said that the entire nation sympathised with the parents whose children rendered a great sacrifice in this tragedy. Principal of the Army Public School, Shaheed Tahira Qazi, and other teachers stood before the beasts as a rock wall to protect their students, and sacrificed their lives, he maintained.

The prime minister said cowardly terrorists can never defeat this nation where fearless people like Shaheed Tahira Qazi and Shaheed Aitzaz Hasan did not even care about their lives to save others. The nation had won the war on terrorism and foiled all the tactics of the enemy to spread mischief and chaos in the country.

The former prime minister and PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif said the dark day of December 16 reminded everyone of the innocent children who were martyred in the Army Public School, Peshawar attack.

He said the nation stood by the martyrs and their families and was united as a nation against terrorism. “Nine years ago today, the entire nation gathered on one narrative against terrorism and under the leadership of the then prime minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, a decisive battle to end terrorism was launched and the terrorists were wiped out through operations Zarb-e-Azb and Raddul Fasaad,” Shehbaz said in a post on his X account.

The PPP chairman and former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari paid tribute to the innocent martyrs of the APS tragedy and their martyred teachers, and also expressing solidarity with the families of the martyrs.

He said the APS tragedy day was a horrific day in the nation’s history. “The memory of this horrific bloodshed is still fresh in the minds of every Pakistan. We will neither forget the martyrs nor this tragedy,” he said in a message on the ninth anniversary of the terrorist attack.

Aleem Khan said The day brought back painful memories of two major tragedies, according to the president of the Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party: The Fall of Dhaka and the APS Peshawar attack.

Read More: Nine years after APS, Pakistan defied terrorism

“When innocent children were subjected to cruelty, the APS Peshawar tragedy is heartbreaking and will never be forgotten. The innocent children of the Pakistan Army and the APS made the ultimate sacrifice, which is why there is peace in the nation today,” he continued.