The Taliban has been a sinister, destructive force in the Middle East for decades now and they refuse to give up. Over the last few years it has seemed like their presence has been less formidable than in past years but they recently proved that they are still a powerful force in the worst possible way. On Tuesday, December 16, a group of nine Taliban members, equipped with explosive vests, grenades, and guns, walked into a Pakistani school and opened fire on a school full of children in grades 1-10. The gunmen shot and killed 141 children and staff. A group of Army commandos soon arrived at the school and got into a firefight with the Taliban. It took over eight hours for the military men to end the assault. All of the gunmen were killed by the end of the fighting.

This devastating, malicious attack is the most deadly attack in Taliban history and is arguably the most disheartening. Pakistani military spokesman Asim Bajwa said, “Their sole purpose, it seems, was to kill those innocent kids. That’s what they did.” It is truly impossible to comprehend how or why anyone would do something as baneful and morally corrupt as shooting a school full of innocent children. While it is common knowledge that the Taliban is not a positive organization, no one could have thought that they were capable of being so savage. This senseless act of violence will not go without backlash from other nations and organizations around the world. US leaders such as Secretary of State John Kerry spoke out about the massacre, saying, “The images are absolutely gut-wrenching: young children carried away in ambulances, a teacher burned alive in front of the students, a house of learning turned into a house of unspeakable horror.” Numerous leaders from around the world in countries like Canada, India, and Afghanistan all had similar remarks about the brutality of this attack. Most notably, when the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif, arrived in Peshawar where the attack happened he said, “These are my children and it is my loss. We will continue our struggle to completely eradicate militancy.”

The Taliban have targeted schools multiple times in the past but this particular act of terror has been especially devastating. The Taliban stooped to a new level of immorality with this massacre of young students. This has been just another example of the Taliban trying to take complete control over the citizens of their country. Attacking education is a way to gain hegemony over the people of Pakistan. Education is a basic necessity in life and the right to be educated should never be taken away from someone. Unfortunately, the Taliban is attempting to do just that by instilling fear in its people with acts of violence such as this.

This attack is demoralizing to everyone, whether you are from Pakistan or not. The fact that the Taliban has been able to terrorize people all over the world for so long is a sad thing to think about. The seemingly endless campaign of violence that they have undertaken is truly tragic and has led to countless casualties. As an American, I am grateful that I do not have to live in fear of a group like the Taliban every day. Lamentably, the people of Pakistan do, and it seriously limits their individual and combined potential as a people. Many of the young people of Pakistan do not have the same opportunities as someone in a country like the United States. This is just another reason why this attack has been so poignant. “My son was in uniform in the morning. He is in a casket now,” one parent told AP. “My son was my dream. My dream has been killed.”

The Pakistani military soon retaliated, bombing more than 10 Taliban targets not long after the assault on the school had been brought to an end. Hopefully, in the near future, there will be a day when news like this never comes along, but for now it is a constant reminder of the evil in this world and how grateful we should all be as Americans that we don’t need to fear for our lives each and every day.