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 Pakistanis waited to see what their government - long accused of
not being tough enough on the Islamists - and the army would do to
stem spiraling violence in a nation which has become a safe haven
for al Qaeda-linked groups.
Seeking to appear decisive, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif announced he
had lifted a moratorium on the death penalty in response to the
massacre.
The focus was on Army Chief Raheel Sharif's visit to Afghanistan
where the two sides, their relationship strained after decades of
mistrust, were due to discuss how to crack down together on
militants hiding on their common border.
People around Pakistan lit candles and staged vigils as parents
buried their children during mass funerals in and around Peshawar -
a volatile city on the edge of Pakistan's lawless tribal belt.
Pakistanis may be used to almost daily attacks on security forces
but an outright assault on children stunned the country, prompting
commentators to call for a tough military response.
In all, 148 people were killed in the attack on the military-run
Army Public School.
 The school's sprawling grounds were all but deserted on Wednesday,
with a handful of snipers manning the roofs of its pink
brick-and-stone buildings.
Army vehicles and soldiers wearing face masks and carrying automatic
rifles were deployed by the entrance.
A Reuters tour of the school revealed a place shattered by hours of
fighting, its floor slick with blood and walls pockmarked with
bullet holes. Classrooms were filled with abandoned school bags,
mobile phones and broken chairs.
One wall was smashed where a suicide bomber blew himself up, blood
splattered across it. His body parts were piled nearby on a white
cloth. The air was thick with the smell of explosives and flesh.
A day after the attack, Peshawar appeared subdued and many people
were still in shock. More details of the well-organized attack
emerged as witnesses came forward with accounts.
"The attackers came around 10:30 a.m. on a pick-up van," said Issam
Uddin, a 25-year-old school bus driver.
"They drove it around the back of the school and set it on fire to
block the way. Then they went to Gate 1 and killed a soldier, a
gatekeeper and a gardener. Firing began and the first suicide attack
took place."
Sharif has announced three day of mourning but people's anxiety
focused on what the authorities can do to protect them.
Sharif came power last year promising to negotiate peace with the
Taliban - but those efforts failed this year, weakening his position
and prompting the army to launch an air-and-ground operation against
insurgents along the Afghan border.
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The military staged more air strikes there late on Tuesday in
response to the school attack, security sources said, but it was
unclear what the target was. GOOD AND BAD TALIBAN
Despite the well-publicized crackdown, the military itself has been
accused of being too lenient towards militants who critics say are
used to carry out the army's bidding in places like the disputed
Kashmir region and Afghanistan.
The military denies the accusations.
"People will have to stop equivocating and come together in the face
of national tragedy," said Sherry Rehman, a former ambassador to the
United States and an opposition politician.
"There have been national leaders who been apologetic about the
Taliban, who have not named the Taliban in their speeches."
The Pakistani Taliban, who are fighting to impose strict Islamic
rule in Pakistan, are holed up in mountains straddling the
Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
They are allied with the Afghan Taliban as well as al Qaeda and
other foreign fighters, and Pakistan has long accused Afghanistan of
not doing enough to crack down on their bases.
Afghanistan, for its part, blames Pakistan for allowing militant
groups such as the Afghan Taliban and Haqqani Network to operate
freely on its territory.
Pakistan's Dawn newspaper quoted a source as saying that the
militants were acting on direct orders from their handlers in
Afghanistan and that prominent Taliban commander Umar Naray was the
ultimate mastermind of the attack.
(Additional reporting by Syed Raza Hassan, Katharine Houreld and
Sheree Sardar; Writing Maria Golovnina; Editing by Robert Birsel)
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