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Anger against the Taliban escalates across Pakistan as details of a massacre at an army-run school emerge. Vanessa Johnston reports.
Video provided by Reuters Newslook
People light candles around pictures of some of those killed in an attack on an army-run Peshawar school in Islamabad on Dec. 18, 2014.(Photo: EPA)
Pakistani forces targeted dozens of militants, killing at least 77 in a series of airstrikes and ground assaults just days after a deadly Taliban-led school attack, the country's military said Friday.
The militants were killed during multiple operations, mainly in the Khyber tribal region Thursday and Friday, the Pakistani military said in a statement. There has been no independent verification of the operations or deaths.
The Pakistan military didn't say whether those killed were linked to Tuesday's assault on a school in the nearby northwestern city of Peshawar that left 148 dead, including 132 students.
USA TODAY
Obama condemns 'horrific attack' in Pakistan
The Pakistani Taliban said the school attack was revenge for a military offensive that began in June aimed at flushing out militants in the northwest, along the border with Afghanistan.
One of the Pakistani Taliban's official media outlets said the attack was "conducted under direction supervision" of a commander communicating live with the militants during the operation, NBC News reported Friday.
In one of the Pakistani military's larger operations, security forces killed 32 militants in an overnight ambush Friday in the Khyber region near the Afghanistan border, one of two main areas in the northwest where militants often withdraw to avoid police after attacking cities. The military said the militants were headed for the Afghan border.
"Security forces ambushed (the) moving group," the military said in a statement according to Reuters. "Fleeing terrorists left behind bodies of their accomplices."
USA TODAY
Tragedy strengthens Pakistan resolve against Taliban
The recent operations suggest Pakistan is sticking to its renewed commitment to rout out terrorists after Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif pledged Wednesday to step up a campaign that targets militants in the wake of the school attack.
The Pakistani leader also promised to lift a moratorium on the death penalty for terrorism crimes. In a sign the government was moving quickly on that pledge, the army said late Thursday that the death warrants for six convicted terrorists had been signed. Still, it was unclear when the military planned to execute the men, whose identities and crimes have not been made public.
The government is also appealing a Pakistani court decision Thursday to grant bail to the main suspect in the deadly 2008 attacks in Mumbai that left 166 dead over the course of three days. Zaki-ur-Rahman Lakhvi — on trial with six others — has not yet been released.
USA TODAY
Man accused of organizing Mumbai attacks granted bail
Contributing: The Associated Press
Families of some of the victims of a massive school shooting in Pakistan hold funeral services. Julie Noce reports.
Video provided by Reuters Newslook
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