00:01Bishawar's Army Public School was a scene of suffering and brutality on December 16, 2014.
00:0911 years ago, more than 100 mothers lost their children in a terror attack.
00:39Even for a nation accustomed to terrorism, it was one of Pakistan's darkest days.
00:51More than 130 children, some just eight years old, were massacred by the Pakistani Taliban.
01:03Pakistan vowed revenge, launching military operations and executing militants linked to the attack.
01:10But 11 years on, the victims' families are still seeking official accountability for security lapses and the slow response.
01:18This is the story of the slain children's brothers who channeled their pain to pursue justice and support their community.
01:25Pishawar, the bustling capital of Pakistan's northwestern Khayber Pakhtunkhwa province,
01:32Despite the city's vibrant cultural life, checkpoints and armed patrols are a constant reminder
01:39of the dangers and security challenges Pishawar faces.
01:54These are some of the mothers who lost their children 11 years ago on December 16.
02:13Every year, they gather for special, if somber occasions, to hold birthday parties for the children they lost.
02:26They lost.
02:53Falaknaz Durrani is the mother of five children.
02:56She lost her two sons in the APS attack.
03:01Nurullah was in grade 9 and Saifullah was in grade 8.
03:06Falaknaz Durrani chose to send her children to the army public school, which is run by Pakistan's military.
03:21She wanted to give them the best possible education in a safe and secure environment, even in Pishawar, which has long struggled with insecurity.
03:42The army public school in Pishawar was turned into a bad school.
04:09The army public school in Pishawar was turned into a battlefield on December 16, 2014.
04:16We didn't get permission to film inside, but this is the view from outside the school walls.
04:23Militants perished a wire fence and stormed into the auditorium, where children were attending a first aid lesson.
04:31Armed with guns and wearing explosive vests, the attackers moved from classroom to classroom, shooting and killing indiscriminately.
04:39Hours later, 144 students and teachers had been brutally murdered, and a nation was plunged into mourning.
04:51Shahana Ajoon Khan's teenage son, Aswand, was in grade 8. His friends and family used to call him Sonu.
05:13After the shooting, Shahana found her son at a military hospital, but she could not bring herself to look at the bullet wounds on Aswan's body.
05:22How did it go after the shooting, as well?
05:23What is it?
05:24The printing the Fantastic Matrix must experience meи
05:25Theypole the
05:39I was away from the side of her.
05:44When I left my hand, my blood was all.
05:49People were taking me away.
05:53I was crying and crying.
05:57Everyone was crying.
05:59But they were not giving me to go to the funeral.
06:02I was crying and I couldn't think how much I could get.
06:06The grief Shahana felt that day, 11 years ago, has accompanied her every day since the attack.
06:17It has become an inescapable part of her daily life.
06:36Through these small acts, they honor the memory of their children, refusing to let their physical absence erase their presence,
07:05even if it is only in spirit.
07:15The attack at the Army Public School in Peshawar, 11 years ago, remains one of the darkest chapters in Pakistan's history.
07:24The killing of more than 130 school children shook Pakistan to its core.
07:29I think it was a movement that completely changed the history of terrorism in Khaybar-Pakhtunkha, overall Pakistan.
07:46The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for the 2014 Army Public School massacre.
07:52TTP is a banned militant organization.
07:56It is distinct from the Afghan Taliban, but shares ideological roots.
08:00They said the attack was a retaliation against the Pakistani military's counter-terrorist campaign.
08:05In the army public school, there would not be many children whose parents were in the army.
08:14There were students who were from, you know, common families.
08:22Their parents were either in business or in other services.
08:25But the result of attack on APS school was that those people came out of their houses
08:35and started protesting against the government to take action against the killers of their children
08:41who were responsible for the martyrdom of their children or for the killing of their children.
08:50In response, Pakistani security forces carried out multiple counter-terrorism operations.
08:56They targeted hideouts of the TTP militants, especially in the country's northwest border region with Afghanistan.
09:04Special military courts were also established under a constitutional amendment
09:08in the wake of the APS attack to fast-track terrorism cases.
09:12Several militants linked to the massacre were sentenced to death and executed following military tribunals.
09:23Despite some tactical successes, analysts say the group has not been eliminated.
09:28Those who carried out that incident, they were all killed there on the spot.
09:34As far as the other organizations are concerned, most of their leaders,
09:41they also met their fate in drone attacks like Mawlana Faslullah and others.
09:47But it's a phenomenon as organizational setup.
09:52It's a mindset.
09:53If two are killed, five are other, you recruit because there is a social space for them.
09:59So we have to adopt some short-term and long-term strategies for that.
10:08Over the last 11 years, mothers like Shahana Ajoon Khan and Falaknaz Durrani
10:13have become leading voices for the victims' families.
10:18They still have many unanswered questions, especially about the events leading up to the attack.
10:24We have to say, yes sir, no sir, we have to say anything.
10:54Families of the victims are demanding accountability.
11:02They are frustrated that official inquiries are pending
11:05and that the outcomes of the investigations have never been made public.
11:09There was no response from Pakistani military to DW's request for an interview.
11:37A veteran politician like Mia Iftokhar Hussain from Awami National Party lost his son in a Taliban attack in 2010.
11:47He also believes that the voices of the victims' families must be heard.
11:52Pakistan has been criticized in the past for not doing enough against certain militant groups in the country.
12:14Since the APS attack, the Pakistani government has looked to take on the TTP.
12:20It has launched military strikes, tried reconciliation and introduced internal security measures with mixed results.
12:29So I think this policy of appeasement and negotiation with certain elements of Taliban has led to this phenomenon of good Taliban,
12:40which was, I believe, not a very sound policy as far as the government is concerned.
12:49And bad Taliban, of course, we call them who are actively engaged in terrorism acts in South Pakistan.
13:00December 16 has not only come to be known for grief and tragedy, it is also about resilience and survival.
13:06Many children who survived that day carry both physical and emotional scars.
13:15Aakif Azim was in the 12th grade on their day.
13:31He not only survived for hours in the school during the attack, he also did what he could to help his fellow students.
13:38Aakif Azim and his brother Muni Wazim, who was also at the school that day, no longer consider themselves victims.
14:05They are survivors. Their mother, Aakif Azim, is torn between relief that her children survived
14:11while burdened with the pain of seeing them relive their trauma.
14:15In Pakistan, the victims of terrorist attacks have very few facilities to help them overcome their post-traumatic stress disorder PTSD.
14:28That is why Aakif decided to become a psychiatrist. He wants to give other the help and support which was not available to him.
14:49The resilience of victims' mothers has come in many farms.
14:52The resilience of victims' mothers has come in many farms.
14:53For Falaknaz Durrani, the challenge was to work hard for her three daughters.
14:59To ensure that they grew up to be independent and self-reliant.
15:02To ensure that they grew up to be independent and self-reliant.
15:09We have our own parents, our own parents, our own parents, and our own parents.
15:16We have our own parents, our own parents.
15:18We have all done everything.
15:19But there is no need for our parents.
15:20We have no need for our parents.
15:22We have no need for our parents.
15:23We have no need for their parents at home.
15:24But there is no need for their children at this time
15:26We have no need for their parents.
15:29We will live in a day and die.
15:31We will thrive and die every day.
15:32We will go to life.
15:34We will live and die every day.
15:37Every day, you can't call it that day, or you can't be reduced, you can't live every day, and die every day.
15:51Hafsah Durrani was in 11th grade at the time of the APS attack.
15:5611 years later, she completed her medical bachelor's degree and is now pursuing post-graduate training.
16:02Her elder sister is a softer engineer, while her younger sister is studying medicine abroad.
16:09Falaknaz Durrani's daughters support their parents like a son would have.
16:32In Peshawar, a road was named in honor of Shahana's son, Aswan Khan.
16:47It is a symbol of remembrance for those who lost their lives in the APS attack.
16:52For Shahana, the message is clear.
16:54The children who were cruelly taken from them will not be forgotten.
16:57Shahana drove us to visit Aswan's grave.
17:19For Shahana coming to her son's final resting place helps her feel closer to him and helps her deal with the pain.
17:28We want justice, we want justice, we want justice.
17:56Every year, families gather in front of the memorial for the martyrs of APS.
18:04For these mothers, justice is not only about punishing the perpetrators or holding officials accountable.
18:11It is also about ensuring no other mother would ever endure the same agony.
18:16And their voices echo, never again, never forgotten.
18:24We're still Range of parole, and we're safe.
18:24We've been trying to make a da Nissupe.
18:29Fill my babyphemes for a 머리를 to get fed into the feliciding part.
18:32Things are easy to meet the knowledge, but life possesses compassion to humanity.
18:35They ensure that importance of significance, it is acceptable.
18:38What are we saying?
18:38What are we saying?
18:40doitNLIN SANDERS
18:41They sympathize
18:41Well, the father of the little maid
18:42tonight
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