Terrors worst face terrorising school kids

Terrorism crosses the boundaries of civility and as is evident in the case of the on-going terror attack on a school in Pakistan, it targets even the young to prove a point of its strength.

Policymakers and security agencies need to keep in mind this evolving threat. There is a grave need for concerted efforts against terrorists and in securing schools that are becoming targets of inhumane attacks.  

 

Here is a list of the most notable terror attacks on schools that shook the world:

Kabul teen suicide terror attack

December 11, 2014: A teenage suicide bomber attacked a French-run high school in Kabul, walking into a packed auditorium during a theatre performance and killing a German citizen. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. Ironically, the subject of the musical play was the aftermath of a bombing. The person killed was German. The attack took place inside the auditorium of the French Cultural Centre, which is on the grounds of a high school known as Lycée Esteqlal, run under contract by the French government. Ten Afghan citizens were also wounded in the attack, including journalists covering the event. The bomber, who wore explosives hidden in his clothing, was probably around 16 years old.

 

The Nigerian School crisis

July 6, 2013: Before dawn, gunmen attacked a government-run boarding school of 1,200 students in Mamudo village, Yobe State, Nigeria, killing at least 42 people.  Most of the dead were students, with a few staff members and a teacher also killed. Some were burned alive while others died of gunshot wounds. At the morgue, parents struggled to identify their children, as many bodies were burned beyond recognition. Survivors were taken to a nearby clinic, guarded by the Nigerian army. According to survivors, the gunmen gathered the victims in a central location and then began shooting and throwing explosives. The assailants also brought fuel to set the school on fire. Six students who escaped were found hiding in the bushes with gunshot wounds and taken to the hospital. More than 100 others were missing as of 6 July.

 

The Malala Yousafzai attack

October 9, 2012: A gunman attacked a school bus near Mingora, Pakistan, shooting 14-year-old Malala Yousafzai, an outspoken critic of the Taliban; Yousafzai was seriously injured by gunshots to the head and two other students were injured. She was flown to the UK for further treatment following surgeries in Pakistan. She was conferred the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 for her stand against terrorism and child and woman safety.

 

The Acid Terror of Kandahar

November 12, 2008: A group of girls walking to school in Kandahar City, Afghanistan, were attacked at about with acid by two men on a motorcycle. The men sprayed acid on the group of eight girls (15 girls in some reports), of whom three were seriously burned, three were treated and released from a hospital, and two were protected by full-length burkas and were uninjured. At least two of the seriously burned girls were blinded by the attack. According to some reports the men ripped headscarves off the girls before spraying them with acid. The girls’ school, Mirwais Minna Girl’s High School, was empty the following day with none of the 1500 students showing for school.

 

The Itamar school crisis

May 28, 2008: A Palestinian terrorist shot several students on the grounds of Yeshivat Hetzim high school in Itamar, Israel. The gunman shot and killed two students (ages 15 and 17) playing basketball, then entered the school and shot three more students, killing one (age 17) and injuring two (both age 14). The gunman was then shot and killed by a security guard and the school principal.

 

Lal Masjid, Islamabad, Pakistan

July 3, 2007: In one of the more high-profile sieges in Pakistan a situation emerged in Islamabad, when students at the Lal Masjid stole military equipment including radio sets and weapons belonging to the Pakistani security forces. What began as a skirmish snowballed into a full-fledged hostage situation, involving students and the security forces, carrying on for nine days before it ended. The Pakistan army lost 11 of its men while 84 students/terrorists were killed and nearly 50 captured. Eleven civilians also lost their lives during the siege.

 

The Islamist attack against female education

January 28, 2007: An all-girls Kholoud Secondary School in a Sunni district of west Baghdad was struck by a mortar attack. Students had just begun a break from classes and were gathering in an inner courtyard about 11:00 AM. At least two mortars landed in the courtyard among at least 100 students; casualties occurred both in the courtyard and inside classrooms from blown out windows. Four girls were killed immediately and a fifth girl died at a hospital, all ages 12 to 16; over other 20 students were injured.

 

The Beslan school attack

September 3, 2004: The Beslan school hostage crisis started the first of September 2004, lasted three days and involved the capture of over 1,100 people as hostages (including 777 children), ending with the death of 385 people. The crisis began when a group of armed Islamic terrorists, mostly Ingush and Chechen, occupied School Number One (SNO) in the town of Beslan, North Ossetia (an autonomous republic in the North Caucasus region of the Russian Federation) on 1 September 2004. The hostage-takers were the Riyadus-Salikhin Battalion, sent by the Chechen terrorist warlord Shamil Basayev, who demanded recognition of the independence of Chechnya at the UN and Russian withdrawal from Chechnya. On the third day of the standoff, Russian security forces entered the building after several explosions, using other heavy weapons.