On 16 December, the Pakistani Taliban murdered 141 people – 132 of them schoolchildren, many sitting examinations, others simply attending classes. A former British diplomat explains the tensions in the region that led to one of the most horrific terrorist atrocities of recent years The Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP), known in the West as the Pakistani Taliban, said it had targeted the school in Peshawar – which was run for the children of military families – because “the army targets our families, we want them to feel our pain”. In this, they succeeded: 132 children were among the 141 people killed by a group of seven gunmen, who themselves all died in the seven-hour action. The attack was the largest since June, when the Pakistan military launched Operation Zarb-