Pakistan army detains dozen over Peshawar school massacre

Thursday, 12 February 2015 3:10 PM [ Last Update: Thursday, 12 February 2015 7:03 PM ]

Pakistani relatives of schoolchildren killed in a militant attack on a school protest in the northwestern city of Peshawar against delays in an investigation into the massacre, on February 7, 2015. (AFP Photo)

The Pakistani army has arrested a dozen local pro-Taliban militants over their alleged involvement in last year's carnage at a school in Pakistan’s northwestern city of Peshawar, which left 150 dead.

Army spokesman, Major General Asim Saleem Bajwa, said on Thursday that nine members of a so-called 27-member cell have already been killed.

Bajwa underlined the importance of neighboring Afghanistan's cooperation in the capture of the six men in connection with the deadly terrorist attack.

On December 16, 2014, a group of militants mounted an attack against Peshawar's Army School, where about 150 people, mostly children, were massacred.

The militant group, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), claimed responsibility for the assault, saying it was carried out in retaliation for an ongoing Pakistani military offensive against the militants in the country’s tribal belt.

The Pakistani army started an operation against militant hideouts in North Waziristan in June 2014 after a fatal raid on Karachi Airport ended the government’s faltering peace talks with pro-Taliban militants.

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