ISLAMABAD: The third anniversary of the Peshawar Army Public School carnage that claimed lives of 147 persons, mostly schoolchildren, was observed on Saturday across the country. The portraits of the martyrs were displayed on roads in Peshawar Cantonment and other parts of the provincial capital to pay tributes to them. An event was held at the Army Public School and College in Peshawar in memory of the martyrs. Parents of the APS martyrs, Peshawar Corps Commander Lt Gen Nazir Ahmad Butt, inspector general Frontier Constabulary (FC) and members of the civil society attended the event at the school’s campus in Peshawar to pay tribute to the victims of the carnage. Lt Gen Butt laid a floral wreath at the monument of APS victims and prayed for the departed souls. A Quran khwani was also arranged where parents, civilians and armed forces personnel participated. The families of the martyrs and civil society organisations arranged Quran Khawani for the departed souls at their homes and different places in the provincial capital. A group of parents of the martyred students also announced a protest sit-in outside the Peshawar Press Club on the occasion to highlight their grievances and demands. Security across the provincial capital had been upgraded to avoid any untoward incident. According to a senior police official, a number of search and strike operations were carried out all over Peshawar during the last few days. Not only the parents and close family members, but the friends of the martyred students and even the general public can never forget the smiling faces of the innocent students who became victim of the worst ever terrorist act in the country. Many schools, roads and a park were named after the martyrs of the APS tragedy in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, FATA, Punjab and Balochistan. People placed huge billboards of many of those young souls in different parts of the city to pay tributes to them. A special function was held at the Ayub Park in Rawalpindi where school children and people in large numbers paid tributes to the APS martyrs. The deadliest attack in Pakistan’s history, the carnage prompted the government to declare an all-out war against terrorist outfits in the country. In the wake of the attack, military courts were set up for trying terrorists under amendments made to the Constitution and the Army Act. Published in Daily Times, December 17th 2017.