Pakistan to Name Schools After Victims of Peshawar Massacre

Pakistan is renaming dozens of government-run schools after the the students killed by Taliban militants in a massacre at an army-run academy in the northwestern city of Peshawar in December, an official said Friday.

The school attack by six gunmen believed linked to the Pakistani Taliban killed 153 people, with most of the victims students, is seen as having hardened Pakistan's resolve to fight jihadist militants along its lawless border with Afghanistan.

A total of 107 schools in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region will bear the name of the slain Peshawar students, said the local education minister, Atif Khan.

"We will never ever forget these students and their sacrifices," Khan said.

The Pakistani Taliban, headed by Maulana Fazlullah, claimed the attack and termed it reaction to the military offensive launched by Pakistani security forces in one of the volatile tribal regions, North Waziristan, against the militants.

"I heard some good news today after losing my son," said Mohammad Tufail Khattak, father of 15-year-old student Sher Shah.

Tufail Khattak said his slain son wanted to become a journalist and influence public opinion through his writing.