Schools to be renamed after victims of APS massacre, says Khyber Pakhtunkhwa education minister

PESHAWAR – Dozens of government schools will be renamed after the students killed by Taliban in Army Public School Peshawar in December, said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Education Minister Atif Khan on Friday. The school attack by six gunmen believed linked to the Pakistani Taliban killed 153 people, with most of the victims students, is seen as having hardened Pakistan's resolve to fight jihadist militants along its lawless border withAfghanistan. A total of 107 schools in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region will bear the name of the slain Peshawar students, said Atif Khan. "We will never ever forget these students and their sacrifices." The Pakistani Taliban, headed by Maulana Fazlullah, claimed the attack and termed it reaction to the military offensive launched by Pakistani security forces in North Waziristan against ‎the militants. "I heard some good news today after losing my son," said Mohammad Tufail Khattak, father of 15-year-old student Sher Shah. Tufail Khattak said his slain son wanted to become a journalist and influence public opinion through his writing. –Reuters