Scenes of carnage at the Army Public School targeted by TTP militants. A. Majeed—AFP
Formed in 2018, the commission has compiled a 3,000-page report featuring interviews with Army officers, eyewitnesses, police officers
A judicial commission tasked to probe the 2014 attack on Peshawar’s Army Public School has submitted its final report to the Supreme Court of Pakistan, according to a spokesman.
Imranullah Khan, spokesman for the judicial commission, told reporters on Thursday that the report comprised approximately 3,000 pages and included statements from several stakeholders as well as important documents on the attack. He said 132 people’s statements were recorded, including 31 police and Army officials. The remaining statements were from eyewitnesses, including injured students and parents of the victims, he added.
According to the spokesman, the commission examined the investigations conducted by police and security agencies into the attack on the school that resulted in the deaths of 147 people, the majority of them students. He said some parents had also requested that then prime minister Nawaz Sharif and then Army chief Gen. Raheel Sharif be summoned by the commission but that plea had been rejected.
Local media has reported that the commission recorded statements from then Peshawar Corps Commander Lt. Gen. Hidayatur Rehman; then Army Public Educational Institutions Board of Governors Chairman Brig. Mudassir Azam; secretary Col. Hazrat Bilal; Brig. Inayatullah of 102 Brigade, HQ-11 Corps; and Maj. Dr. Asim Shehzad of the Army Medical Corps.
It also recorded statements from then DIG of Counter-Terrorism Department Mohammad Alam Shinwari; then home secretary Syed Akhtar Ali Shah; then capital city police officer Ijaz Khan; among others.
Acting on the orders of the Supreme Court, the Peshawar High Court formed the single-member commission on Oct. 12, 2018. Led by Justice Mohammad Ibrahim Khan, it became functional on Oct. 19, 2018.
It was given an initial period of six weeks to complete its inquiry, but the proceedings lasted nearly two years to ensure statements were recorded from all parties concerned.
The commission had been established on the calls of parents of students who were targeted in the 2014 attack. They had demanded that the court investigate alleged negligence in security measures that had resulted in the attack, which was claimed by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan.