Pakistan Taliban: Peshawar School Attack Leaves 135 Dead

Pakistan Taliban attacked an army-run school in Peshawar leaving near 150 dead, most children. Many of the students were children of military personnel. A Taliban spokesman suggested the attack was in retaliation for hundreds of recent deaths of Taliban fighters in North Waziristan and the Khyber area, reports BBC News. Some in Pakistan’s military and intelligence services have regarded extremists as a tool to be used against opponents. The attack on schoolchildren could strengthen Pakistan’s political resolve to battle religious extremism within its borders: “This brutal attack may well be a watershed for a country long accused by the world of treating terrorists as strategic assets,” suggests Aamer Ahmed Khan. “Pakistan's policy-makers struggling to come to grips with various shades of militants have often cited a ‘lack of consensus’ and ‘large pockets of sympathy’ for religious militants as a major stumbling-block.” Peshawar is near the country’s border with Afghanistan. – YaleGlobal