Suffer the little children

Evil is the only word to describe people who target innocent children:

Pakistan has begun three days of mourning for the 132 children and nine school staff massacred by the Taliban in the country’s deadliest ever terror attack.

The 141 people were killed when insurgents stormed an army-run school in the northwestern city of Peshawar and systematically went from room to room, shooting children during an eight-hour killing spree.

The attack, claimed by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) as revenge for a major military offensive in the region, sparked worldwide condemnation and led the Pakistani government and military to reaffirm their determination to defeat a group that has killed thousands since 2007.

Teenage survivor Shahrukh Khan, who ducked below his desk with classmates when four gunmen burst into their room, described how he played dead after being shot in both legs, stuffing his tie into his mouth to stifle his screams.

“I saw a pair of big black boots coming towards me, this guy was probably hunting for students hiding beneath the benches,” the 16-year-old said from the trauma ward of the city’s Lady Reading Hospital.

“The man with big boots kept on looking for students and pumping bullets into their bodies. I lay as still as I could and closed my eyes, waiting to get shot again,” he said.

“My body was shivering. I saw death so close and I will never forget the black boots approaching me – I felt as though it was death that was approaching me.”

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif announced three days of national mourning and described the attack as a “national tragedy unleashed by savages”. . .

In the past children might have been hurt or injured as a result of war but this targeting of them is a relatively new and sickening development.

Nothing justifies the wanton slaughter of innocent children.