Pakistan Reinstates Death Penalty After Attack

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Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has reinstated the death penalty in terrorism cases after Taliban gunmen killed 132 children and nine teachers at a school in Peshawar.

Three days of mourning have begun after the country's deadliest terror attack which saw seven gunmen storm the army-run school on Tuesday.

Government spokesman Mohiuddin Wan said Mr Sharif had approved the lifting of the ban on death penalties.

He said: "It was decided that this moratorium should be lifted. The prime minister approved. Black warrants [execution orders] will be issued within a day or two."

The moratorium on civilian executions had been in place since 2008. One execution has taken place since then.

Despite the ban, hanging has remained a possible sentence in Pakistan and judges continued to pass death sentences.

Pakistan has more than 8,000 prisoners on death row, around 10% of whom have been convicted of offences labelled "terrorism", according to legal aid group Justice Project Pakistan.

Meanwhile, funerals for many of the victims of the massacre have been taking place.

Mr Sharif described the attack as a "national tragedy unleashed by savages".

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Gallery: Taliban Gunmen Kill 132 Children In Northern Pakistan City

Militants from the Pakistani Taliban attacked an army-run school in Peshawar

They killed 141 people, 132 of whom were children

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Students told stories of gunmen entering classrooms and firing at random

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"These were my children. This is my loss. This is the nation's loss," he said.

Tehreek-e-Taliban insurgents moved from room to room during the eight-hour attack.

Pupils were gunned down and some of the female teachers were reportedly burned alive.

Teenage survivor Shahrukh Khan, who ducked below his desk with classmates when four gunmen burst into the room, described how he played dead after being shot in both legs.

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Gallery: Aftermath Of School Massacre

The coffin of a male student killed in the attack is carried to his funeral in Peshawar

A boy walks past the charred remains of a car torched to block access to the school

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He said he stuffed his tie into his mouth to stifle his screams.

"I saw a pair of big black boots coming towards me, this guy was probably hunting for students hiding beneath the benches," the 15-year-old said.

"The man with big boots kept on looking for students and pumping bullets into their bodies. I lay as still as I could and closed my eyes, waiting to get shot again.

"My body was shivering. I saw death so close and I will never forget the black boots approaching me - I felt as though it was death that was approaching me."

People in Peshawar have been posting memorials to friends and loved ones killed in the attack.

One written to Mubeen Shah on Facebook reads: "I don't know how to sleep today, I don't even know how to stop my tears."

Chief military spokesman General Asim Bajwa that 125 people had been wounded in the assault.

The militants said the attack was revenge for a major military offensive in the northwest, along the border with Afghanistan.

But even the Taliban militants in Afghanistan condemned the attack as "un-Islamic".

Meanwhile, a district government official confirmed a US drone strike in eastern Afghanistan killed 11 militants, including four Pakistan Taliban, on Tuesday.

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