the taliban of charkh were burying their dead. >> one of the two taliban fighters killed in an attack on a local afghan army base. a lot of inhabitants from this village in charkh have gathered today. >> they're here to pay their respects. they're here also to mourn, and also show that they are proud. >> the dead man's father was amongst the mourners. >> many of the dead fighter's comrades were there, including 17-year-old ehsanullah, who also took part in the attack. after the funeral was over, i followed him as he went to meet a friend. i asked him to tell me what motivates young men here to fight for a movement like the taliban >> from what i was told, the taliban in charkh are mostly recruited from the 40,000 people who live in the district. >> the taliban are feared across many parts of afghanistan - and especially outside predominantly pashtun regions. before they were toppled from power in 2001, and like other groups during afghanistan's civil war, they committed horrendous massacres against civilians. when they ruled afghanistan, they imposed an extreme interpretation of shari

the taliban says the attac

this is hard to hear, but to the taliban, two the taliban, even a school filled with young children, most of those shot today were between 12-16 is a completely legitimate target to them. >> let's go to peshar. is the taliban still in control of the school? >> according to the military courses, at least a vast majority of the compound has now been cleared. the attacker, five of them have been killed. one attacker is still at large. he's been confined to a certain block of the army, public school and the military operation is still going on. we heard multiple explosions, suggesting that the attackers were also using hand grenades and according to the latest reports we are getting, the death toll has been mounding, now 130 killed, over 100 students are wounded. they have been moved to emergency anthospitals and the combined military hospital as well as another hospital. the military operation is still ongoing. >> 130 children killed, more than 100 wounded, have we heard anything so far about any demands that may have been made? >> sorry, the line is not very clear. can you repeat the q

the pakistani taliban claimed responsibility.perations. >> as if there is a justification. there is no possible way to create this sense here. barbaric attack. however you separate the children and their ages. 126 killed and that number no doubt will go up. we will have much more on the breaking news. deadly attack >>> a deadly attack on a school in pakistan. >> six men with suicide vests. >> a taliban gunman entered a school after scaling its walls. >> we have an explosion coming from the school. >> children are said to be still inside that school. >> that death toll is continuing to rise. >> the siege is over. >> sydney remains on high alert. >> this is just the kind of guy that isis wants. >> things like this don't happen in sydney. >> we are ready to deal with these people. >> just because we don't believe in the bad guys doesn't believe the bad guys aren't trying to kill us. >> welcome to "new day," it's tuesday, december 16th, 6:00 in the east, just about, questions cuomo and alisyn camerota here, we welcome our viewers in

admired in the west, but hated by the taliban. the pakistani taliban's strongest here, in the country's northwest frontier province. the taliban is actually an association made up of any militant groups fighting against the pakistani government which it views as to close to the west. the group has carried out numerous attacks. since the summer, it has stepped up its campaign after the army launched an offensive. in november 2014, a young suicide bomber attacked a pakistani checkpoint on the border with india. around 50 people died. in june of this year, a group of taliban militants disguised -- disguised as police officer's attacked karachi airport. thousands died as they battled attackers there. in september of 20 13,000 of people protested against the taliban after it's bombers struck a church with at least 60 christians killed. in recent months, islamic state has reportedly been recruiting jihadi's from pakistan. islamic state has repeatedly made global headlines for it beheadings and bombings. but now, the taliban has upstaged

whereby hundreds of taliban, pakistani taliban have been killed. and of course the united states also continues its drone attacks in that area. and just recently, handed over one of the major, in fact the deputy leader, the deputy in command of the taliban to the pakistani government. unfortunately, unfortunately the taliban uses its attacks against soft targets. so whenever you see these attacks, they're often against civilians or against children and very sadly. the attack of schools and schoolchildren is a taliban m.o. that is what they do. and we've been seeing it over the years. you know nothing is brutal as this in terms of the terrible numbers, but this is what they do. and it seems this war, this multi-pronged war is at a very, very fierce level right now. particularly as they all jockey for position as the u.s. starts to withdraw from that region. >> christianne 126 people. how does slaughtering school children advance any group's agenda? >> well you can well ask that and we all ask that and we wonder how -- they don't care, alisyn. they d

you think about the afghan taliban, the pakistan taliban and these punjabi taliban. the army has been fighting the pakistan taliban for some years now. and this is the first major act of retaliation for a couple of years that have come from the pakistan taliban. >> has the military been successful in their operations recently? is that the difference, that they actually have managed to clear them out and shut down their operations? >> there was a big offensive in north waziristan in these tribal areas and there is still conflict going on there, but by and large, those areas have been cleared. many of the pakistan taliban fled to afghanistan. others obviously were in peshawar and have mounted this attack. it's worth making this point, i think. some people on social media and so on are talking about this being an attack from india. no doubt, we'll hear soon that it was the united states who did this. there is a sense of denial in pakistan that these are indigenous forces. these taliban are local people. they are from the community, from that society. and they have mount

pakistani taliban does have strong following. critic say that pakistan works with parts of them whilele -- >> hussein is a former pakistani ambassador to the united states, and now he's the director of the hudson substitute. he's in washington tonight. and welcome, it's good to have you on the program. could you explain why this happened? >> basically, it happened because the taliban has presented an ideology that allows such things happen. it's not a normal organization, and it's not people with the kind of world view that you and i understand. they attack the military headquarters, because the pakistani military attacked them. and that would have at least made some sense. attacking children, who could not feedback, who are helpless, basically, it's the aim way of thinking as boko haram in nigeria or isis in syria. no sensible reason explains it. only their ideology does. >> can you tell us the reaction in pakistan and what you've heard? >> pakistanis are obviously grieved and all saddened by this, and we're also outraged. and w

>> with the taliban, we should.hey have two military objectives, one fighting against kabul, the other islamabad. they are peshtune ethnically. during fighting season, they do borrow from one another's soldiers and commanders and military operation. it is not correct to say that the taliban in afghanistan are completely a separate group. >> the u.s. has considered negotiations with the taliban in afghanistan. should that be on the table with a group that is capable of massacring more than 100 children? >> well, the pakistani's have tried talking to the taliban. these talks failed. after that failure, they started this offensive. ultimately, the taliban would have always retaliated against an offensive. the question is does pakistan have the resolve to keep fighting the taliban or will public pressure now force the military to back away and then, you know, you essentially end up in a bad situation. >> that leads to my next question. some pakistani politicians, have condemned the taliban for this attack. why does the

this is not the taliban. these kinds of people need to be counted effectively both by the state and civil society. we're seeing a very strong movement of civil society emerge. whether it's going to get the government support is critical. >> when we see these attacks in the past, foreign elements have been to blame, has this attack which has been the deadliest in years has it created enough shock, outrage to look inwards to the problems. is it a real turning point? >> yes, it has. one very important indicator of that is that the majority of people who have been commenting on whether it's in the media or on television it's only a handful, but they need to be stopped. many are running religious schools and educating the young in a bad way. what the state needs to do is build up a narrative. we still have major politicians who do not condemn the taliban by name. they will sympathize with the victims of the attacks but they will not blame the taliban for what has happened. >> it was really good to talk to you. >>>

and do you see a difference between pakistani taliban and taliban in afghanistan? because what the question today is about that, saying they're pakistani taliban. taliban is the taliban, whether it's pakistani or afghani. >> your first question, i'm sure you don't expect me to try to defend the murder and the slaughter of innocent kids at a school. so i'm not even going to try to do that. on your question about the taliban, and we've said this before, we don't look at them as one homogenous group. do they share certain ideologies? yes. and a radical view of the muslim faith? yes. and a belief that terror and murder and violence is a way to pursue those goals? yes. but we also recognize that there are subgroups within those who call themselves taliban who have different, more specific goals and objectives, whether it's geographically bound or ideologically bound. i'm not an expert on all the different groups, but we know some are more directed at afghanistan, they direct their activities in afghanistan, some direct their efforts more inside pakistan against the paki

of pakistan taliban. pushed out. it's an umbrella organization. composted of nearly 30 armed groups aligned with al qaeda. the focus is to overthrow pakistan's government and impose a harsh form of islamic law. >> while you have a secular government in this muslim country, there'll be an element of sharia law that should run it. >> pakistan's prime minister came to office promising to negotiate with taliban. at an attack, an airport ended the hope. targetting the taliban in tribal areas along the border. thousands have been killed. hundreds of thousands forced from the home. >> the army said the strikes were working. clearly not completely blunt in its power. >> it's a critical point in the history of the nation of pakistan. they have to maintain military pressure, the second thing is they have to have some talks with the elements. pakistan taliban has a strong following. >> critics say part of the problem is pakistan works with part of the taliban while fighting other elements of it. still the president

they'll kill some taliban terrorists, if you will. then the pakistani government will complain about it. you've heard those suggestions, right? >> there are a change of reports. i'm a big watcher of your show, cnn, but i won't get into intelligence or all the work we do on counter terrorism. >> what about this attack? this attack today? could it inspire others to go after u.s. targets? the concern i've heard is if these people are willing to kill fellow muslims, fellow pakistanis, young kids, you can imagine what they would do to americans or europeans if given the chance. >> every time something like this happens, you look at what it mean or what it could mean. that's not an assessment we're making at this time. anyone serving in pakistan are in a high threat post. we provide information publicly to people living there and we certainly take necessary precautions on the ground. >> in terms of travel advisories, the state department doesn't think this is necessarily a good time for americans to visit pakistan. >>> we've had a travel ad

> we want to unite all the pakistanis against the taliban, because we know as long a. >> the taliban has pockets of public support across the country, but critics gather outside of islamabad mosques. the preacher accused of being sympathetic to the group. >> i'm protesting. our strategy to deal with terrorism is wrong. >> on tuesday the taliban carried out an attack on a school in peshawar. the vast majority of them were children. the taliban said they carried it out in retaliation. >> the government has stated this moratorium on death penalty that had been in place for six years. two men found guilty of separate attacks were executed on friday. >> in the past. extremists have start schools but never targeted like this. >> to grief for the young victims it seems clear that tuesday's attacks have effected thousands of pakistani. >> the latest on the battle against isil and iraq. kurdish forces have managed to open a second corridor, which allows them to get close for isil-held territory at sinjar mountain. this represents another gain of kurdish fighters who try to push isil out of th

and pakistan when it comes to the taliban, an i a tack like today, helps the u.s.ffort, helps them convince both pakistanis in the world, that they should not make a deal and of course it gives the opportunity to stand shoulder to shoulder pakistan, whom they have given so much money to, a day like today, so horrific, so barbaric over 130 children killed just in school, you saw the u.s. ambassador and many people in the u.s. standing shoulder to shoulder. >> yeah, nick, appreciate it. in jerusalem for us. the 1-2 punch, have certainly kicked in, and the confident of ordinary russians took a nose dive after overnight action. how do things get so bass, so quickly, for russia? >> well, in the dead of the month, russia's central bank hiked interest rates from 10 and a half % to 17%, that is an eye watering hike, and it wreaks of def race. and sure enough, the market smelled blood and they went in for the kill. now ruble has lost over half it's value. a crisis fed by a perfect storm, raining down on the economy, in the form of sanctions and humbling oil prices. now, rus

and bad taliban. they will identify those individuals who will kilpack stakillkill pakistanis. i remain skeptical. and then there are larger structural matters. pakistan's rule of law systems have long come under criticism. even if there were a will to do things quite differently, you would have to go through the laundry list of things that have to take place that involved legislation in a country that is notorious fought to legislature late. >> why the ambivalence? before they felt this way? then there is lack of clarity, lack of decision making definition at the top. do you see this event as something that marks a new period? >> some have called this pakistan's 9/11. that's not the right analogy, at least not yet. what we saw in 9/11 in the united states was a dramatic shift in the public mood about terrorism. but also a dramatic shift within the government about how to deal with the problem. we saw entire organizations being stood up. we saw knew ways of doing things. what we're seeing in pakistan

first, 141 victims in the latest assault by the taliban.he vast majority of them schoolchildren the youngest just to your soul. gunmen wearing suicide vests stormed into a school today carrying out the deadliest terrorist attack in the country's history. this report from islam a bad. >> the eyewitnesses said that the attackers have been confirmed to be seven. they came in wearing suicide vests with automatic weapons and grenades which they hurled inside classes. they lined up students, young students in their early teens and shot them at point-blank range. the way they carried out this it was not just at attack but a assassination of many of these children and the siege went on for six hours. now about a half-hour ago the military handed the school back to the school authorities and they are saying the area is now clear. the majority of dead are children between the ages of eight and 16. >> this unspeakable attack, some people are saying this could actually be a turning point for pakistan because it is so atrocious what happened today. peop

taliban attack an army-run school in pakistan.t least 130 people are dead, most children. >> reporter: there were six or seven attackers and they were turning the classrooms and shooting students one by one. >>> hundreds of billions of dollars are wiped off of the value of russian's economy as the ruble crashes to a new low, and share prices plunge. >>> plus -- >> how can someone like that be entirely at large in the community? >> australia's prime minister asks why the sydney siege attacker was not on a watch list despite being known to the authorities. ♪ >>> at least 130 people, most of them children have been killed in an attack on an school by the pakistani taliban. witnesses and police have described how gunmen wearing suicide vests entered the classrooms, and started shooting students where they sat. a siege lasting several hours, ended the deaths of all of the attackers. the prime minister has announced three days of mourning. the school is located near several government and military buildings. nicole johnston has this rep

all nine taliban gunmen were killed. the group proved its point and more pakistani individuals were killed. >> scott heidler as the latest from peshawar. >> special tease -- peshawar is not a normal city as the dead are buried. across the road from me there are two graves to be dug, of course, for the victims. all the shops closed in the city. traffic is not normal, there's less than normal traffic, and the city is in a state of mourning. >> we know that the prime minister is meant to be holding a meeting with regional leaders off pakistan. sometimes now to discuss the way forward with the taliban. what has come out of that meeting. >> the meeting is still on. it's unprecedented. it was a lot of bickering and uncertainty before the attack. after the attack the prime minister called an emergency meeting for all the opposition parties. they have gathered in peshawar. we expect an important announcement out of there as well. shock, understandably on behalf of the government when the attack took placement now we know that th

the taliban has said it carried out the attack in return for the pakistani military's attacks on taliban families in north waziristan. secretary of state john kerry condemned the school massacre. >> the images are gutwrenching -- young children carried away in ambulances. a teacher burned alive. in front of the students. e-house a learning turn into a house of unspeakable horror. the prime minister said these are my children, my loss. this morning, wherever you live, wherever you are, those are our children, and this is the world 's loss. >> we'll have more on the attack after headlines. as the attack was underway in pakistan, a u.s. drone strike killed 11 people in eastern afghanistan. a local official said the dead were militants, including four members of the pakistani taliban. the obama administration has confirmed that it will seek limited testimony from "new york times" investigative reporter james risen. on tuesday, risen was ordered to participate in a hearing early next month in advance of the trial of a former cia officer jeffrey sterling who is charged , with giving risen clas

the pakistan military has intensified against the taliban. dozens of fighters have been killed in strikes in peshawar. it follows taliban attacks on a school in peshawar that killed 148 people. the kurdish peshmerga fighters in iraq are trying to secure their old on sinjar mountain. the iraqi military is also fighting fighters in ramadi. >>> planes have struck the gaza strip. the attack comes after a rocket from gaza hit an israel field. >> the israeli attack on gaza overnight. >> three half palestinians stranded in egypt to cross. the u.n. special envoy to syria have been negotiating a freeze in fighting in aleppo. but there are concerns about the plan and can't come to an agreement. >> the united nations has a plan to stop the fighting in aleppo city. so far there has been no agreement. it has not given much details on how it can be implemented on the ground. but it's special envoy said it could involved a monitoring mechanism backed by a security council resolution. that's what worries the syrian government. close to the authorities, he to

so this school currently under attack by the taliban, the taliban has issued a statement, in fact, sayingesponse to the ongoing military operations in pakistan's northern territories and shariff the prime minister calling it a tragedy and hider is on the telephone and traveling to peshawar from islamabad and the latest information is these three explosions that have taken place, do you know what from? >> yes, indeed. we have heard about it and have been a number of explosions and the operation is still ongoing. we also know that the prime minister, the chief of the military general sharif and khan landed there and the prime minister is having an emergency meeting. he is also said to be directly trying to watch the situation from the ground in that area but as you mentioned this has been an ongoing operation and as we had predicted earlier the death toll is mounting but one thing which had everybody worried is the fact there was hardly any security on the school premises at the time it was infiltrated to get in the compound and there will be some anger but at the same time the whole countr

has been trying to combat the taliban in afghanistan. and there's of course, as you know, a difficult conversation with the pakistanis for well over a decade. 13 years, going back to september 2001, about the frustration that the obama and bush administrations have had about the inconsistent approach by the pakistani government against terrorist groups. one would hope that the pakistani government would consolidate its efforts, based on today's event, and understand that the groups are a cancer for the people of pakistan. and you see - i have been following on twitter the debate in pakistan, you see the support of the pakistani people for something to be done to combat this evil group that conducted today's terrorist operation. and you contrast what happened today, the actions of the pakistani taliban with the heroism and courage of malalley who received the nobel peace prize and she made a statement condemning what happened. there are millions of pakistanis who understand their country must do the right thing by combatting the evil. >>

the pakistani taliban has claimed responsibility. the prime minister vowed not to give in to the group. >> i think this war and struggle will continue until terrorism is completely rooted out of this country. >> reporter: nobel peace prize winner malala yousafzai who herself survived being shot in the head by the taliban sent a video message. >> we stand with all those families and all those children who are injured right now and who are suffering through this big trauma and now it is time that we unite and i call upon the international community, teachers in pakistan, all political parties and everyone that we should stand up together and fight against terrorism. >> reporter: a message to a nation in shock and to a community now asking itself why so many innocent young lives had to be cut short. atika schubert, cnn, london. >>> now hundreds were wounded in this attack. many of them are at one of two main hospitals in peshmerga. "the washington post's" pakistan bureau chief tim craig visited one of those hospitals and talked to cnn a

that the taliban is alive.an and on afghanistan and we better be wary of thinking that things are good enough for us to leave afghanistan. this is a very unstable region and it remains a question as to whether pakistani military will be able to continue the fight against the taliban after what happened today. >> a very ominous message there as this administration attempts to extricate from this region. thank you so much. >> good to be with you. >>> coming up a little later in the show. stick around because you will remember this one and so many of you were, indeed, moved by this one and responded in force. remember jada? there she is. the teenage girl from houston who was allegedly drugged and raped at a party and then saw photos of herself lying unconscious being passed around on social media. we have something new on that story. months later houston police finally acting on it. jada will join us to tell us the latest. her first interview since our call to action on her and her story went viral. stick around.

nick schifrin spent many years reporting the ta taliban. >> the schools for the taliban represent western values and the pakistani government. add the fact, as we've discussed on the show, the military. you have the west, u.s. military, and girls' education. the taliban have launched a thousand attacks on schools according to human rights groups, but never ever on the scales we saw today, as we've been discussing this. it may go down as the single worst attack on any school anywhere. it's unprecedented even in pakistan, which is so used to so many attacks. in the past taliban have been able to launch high profile attacks. including the ones on hq, police training grounds, karachi airport. but they've reduced that capacity. some people are talking about this attack being a sign of soft desperation, and it's also sending the opposite notion that the taliban can reach anywhere, and no pakistani or their children are safe anywhere. >> let's take a deeper dive into pakistan and education. so look, what are your thoughts, first of all, and then we'll go deeper here on this attack being carried

pakistani against the taliban. because we know as long as taliban continue there will be extremism. >> taliban fighters killed more than 130 children and injured many others. people fear more attacks. >> children ask me whether they're safe in school, and my kids ask me the same thing. the same thing could happen to them. the government should have a permanent solution for this. >> the taliban has pockets of public support across the country. but critics gathered outside of the mosque whose critics are against the taliban. one of the things that the government has done is lift a six-year moratorium on the death penalty. two men found guilty of separate attacks from executed on friday. >> it's a great national tragedy because in the past extremists have destroyed schools but never targeted children like this. just like 9/11 changed the united states forever, in fact, the world forever, this is kind of our mini 9/11. >> from anger against the taliban to grief for the young victories it seems clear that the attack has

s relationships, the intelligence's relationship with the taliban? >> it could but i'm not certain it will. there are still people, including people who are reluctant to condemn the taliban by name, they still think that taliban are a reaction to what has happened globally instead of saying that these people are unadulterated evil. when you don't recognize evil then that evil will continue to survive. i am hoping that the prime minister, and others who will try to get that reaction but we've had that effort before. as you remember when the one was attacked, the pakistan army came in but then the militants went to other parts of pakistan. is that happening again is what we have to guard against. a complete effort rather than an incomplete one is what is going to protect the future. >> you're an ambassador to washington, d.c. washington, d.c. funneled billions of dollars in aid money and military aid to the pakistani government. what's the leverage here in washington? >> well, the problem with washington's policy is that washington is unable to use wha

the prime minister vows to continue his crack drown against the pakistani taliban. we're inside the peshawar school where 140 died, mostly children. >> i saw shoes, clothing, school books covered in blood on the floor. large pools of blood around the aisles where children had been trying to get out of the rows of seats and out of the building. >> another taliban attack in afghanistan as militants attack a bank and kill at least six is. >>> soldiers are said to have are mistreated iraqi detainees in 2004. >>> why the new york premiere of this film poking fun at north korea has been cancelled due to threats from a hacking group. >>> hello. pakistan's prime minister is meeting all main political parties to discuss how to respond to the taliban attack on a school in peshawar. more than 140 were killed, nearly all children. the prime minister lifted a moratorium on the death penalty on cases of terrorism. the first journalist to see the devastation in the school, there are disturbing details in her report. >> reporter: they were shooting from the stage? >> yeah. they wer

the taliban. the problem is about the capacity of the government to tackle this issue. make no mistake about it in some of those tribalal areas the pakistani taliban still have some support but the overwhelming majority of pakistanis reject terrorism and are trying to suppress this, if you will, cancer in their society. the problem is the capacity of the government to do so successfully has been the biggest challenge and sometimes it has successes and sometimes it doesn't. >> there's been frustration that has spilled over that americans have worried president bush as well as president obama have worried for some time the pakistanis were not tough enough on terrorism, the pakistanis and a nod and a wink relationship with the taliban. i suspect if that was the case that all changes now. >> you'll see a different approach. there's two schools of thought on this. some within pakistan wanted to try a reconciliation approach with the taliban, to try to bring them into the fold and they felt the best way

you have the pakistani taliban. it was domestic militants that formed when the previous pakistan government began aligning with the u.s. to combat al qaeda and the afghan taliban after the september 11 terrorist attacks. it's a group of, you know, home grown islamic militants. they want to implement sharia law in pakistan. they don't have much support in country. they have sympathizers and they do have various supporters. but those pakistanis do not support them. they view them as sort of a fringe element that is sort of -- has no place in pakistan. they have been responsible for a decade of attacks against pakistan army installation and buildings. pakistan lost thousands of soldiers and civilians in these attacks but few know that none of the attacks have risen to the level of this deliberate targeting of children, many children of pakistan army officers and soldiers and what can only be described as a horrific massacre. >> that's why this school in particular was targeted because it's the kids of pakistani militar

and bad taliban stop -- and bad taliban. next but he has been -- >> but he has been saying in public for a while that terrorists are terrorists are terrorists, but the hunting place they still listings between the afghan taliban and pakistan taliban. >> that is right, and you would hope that all of these dead children would be enough to finally let this government get a grip on its entire government, its army, and its intelligence services. i think it will take the package -- the pakistani people getting up and saying this is enough. you and i might have 100 things that we might do, but this is for packet any to do now. -- for pakistanis to do now. and i people are watching hope they will sustain this for some and that they will say it is enough. -- will sustain this and that they will say it is enough. >> does it make any difference to the taliban what people think of them? >> i don't pick it matters at all or they would not do such things. what needs to happen now is that the people of pakistan recognize that they want a s

at least 126 people have been killed by taliban militants. nearly all of the victims young children. no older than the tenth grade. this is happening in peshawar a city about 3 million people in northern pakistan. it is 7:00 p.m. there now. and this is the scene earlier. parents and soldiers crowded in the streets outside the school. inside, the military spent hours trying to rescue students and staff. still held hostage. one official said the school was booby trapped, which slowed everything down. the the taliban called it a revenge attack saying they wanted to go after a military run school in retaliation for military attacks on their tribal areas along the border. the good news and it's very little good news it may be over. the taliban said they sent six attackers in. an hour ago we got word that six had been killed. katy tur is tracking this for us from london. richard engel has lived in the region for nearly two decades. he's our chief foreign correspondent. katy, let's start with you. can you give us the latest details on the attack? >>

he is one of 21 suspected taliban fighters killed in the area. he claimed responsibility for the attack, which left more than 130 children led. we have reports from peshawar on the strong reaction provoked by tuesday's killings. >> the show of sympathy with the children killed in peshawar. the militar school is covered with prayers, words of support and messages. a steady scream of visitors house of indians for the sixth day of the attack that killed 148 people, most of them school boys. some of the parents come with their surviving children to pick up their school bags. others come to have a look at the place that is now the source of their most worst memories. >> the whole nation is crying. the military is the only hope to rid this country of this menace. >> anger at the taliban and hope that the military will act. despite the fact that over 50,000 people have been killed in this country during the last ten years, in this fight against pakistani-taliban, public loyalties have always been divided between the two sides. however, after the attack

at the moment the military is still conducting an operation against the taliban, the pakistani talibanponsible for this attack. they say they are possibly around six militants that were responsible for conducting the attack and that they were wearing military uniforms when they entered the school. >> and, samina, give us some more information about this school specifically. why it might be a target. we understand that this is a school actually run by the military. >> reporter: the military runs a number of schools. they call them the army public schools. clearly this was chosen because of the affiliation with the military and also because it was a soft target. the children are there. you think that the taliban would make a distinction between older students that they think should be killed and the younger children who should be -- goes a long way to say how they look at legitimate and illegitimate targets so the children ki, as as 14 because they were studying in an army run school a legitimate target for the militant. >> we're looking at some -- a brief video clip showing some of the

politically, it said the taliban are defeated. certainly in afghanistan and to an extent in pakistan, but militarily, they remain a threat and they have increased their threat quotient in the last many months particularly as the u.s. starts to pull back. whether this has an effect on the hearts and minds in pakistan and concentrates the minds of people who might have thought that, you know, the taliban were, i don't know, standing up for pakistan, you know, socking one to the united states, if you like. whether people can get over that and really understand that they are an existential threat to pakistanis remains to be seen and such a heartbreaking comment from the defense minister. he said the smaller the coffin, the heavier it is to bear for us, and he really means that because this is an unprecedented attack. >> and i mean, why target children, particularly if you're trying to change perception or win over followers in the country? i mean, i guess it's only because they're the children of military officers. >> reporter: well,

this was what later became the regular taliban, if you will, the afghan taliban. on, there was a split between the larger group into ttp or the pakistani taliban. you know, i got swept up into it in 1995. i was young, adventurous, i was looking for, you know, the romanticized ideals of the muslim fighters of the old days. and i think this is the same thing that catches a the lot of individuals. they wear the costume of religion, but it's the furthest thing from it. >> costume, that's an interesting word you chose. i'm going to loop back to, but we're also now getting word from -- we're hearing from the spokesperson from the afghan taliban condemning this attack in pakistan saying, and i quote, this is from the spokesperson, deliberate killing of innocent women and children is against principles. everyone should consider this. he referenced the split of the taliban, can you explain the differences in factions? why is this significant here? >> well, there's a lot of splits -- >> well, the pakistani -- >> this is for j.m. >> and there's also -- sorry. there's a lot o

the taliban a >> translator: a security situation is very bad here, there are a lot of taliban. they come from three other districts and they continue to control areas and cause a lot of damage. >> reporter: despite the police presence people here are worried. whole rows of shoches are shopse abandoned. are be nato withdrawal is almost complete. only 3,000 troops will stay in next year to support the afghan forces. they have stain heavy losses. hopefully they have learned enough from this year's battle to stand up to a resurgent taliban. jennifer glasse, al jazeera, kabul. >> battles now underway with the islamic state of iraq and the levant in the city center. the battle for sinjar and the surrounding areas have become the latest focus in the campaign to take back territory lost to i.s.i.l. al jazeera continues to demand the release of its three journalists detained in egypt for 359 days, almost a year. peter greste, boa baher mohamedd mohamed fahmy are appealing against their sentences. mohamed and peter were sentenced to 7 years, baher was sentenced to an additional three bec