Bloodied shoes, uniforms, geometry sets are scattered around. In the auditorium alone, 100 were killed. (Agence France-Presse Photo)
Students grieving for their classmates massacred by the Pakistani Taliban on Thursday vowed to defy the militants and return to school as soon as possible. (
Peshawar School Attack: Live Updates)
Mohammad Billal, 14, said he would defy his parents' advice to stay at home, and return to school as soon as he can. "I will come the moment it opens because I am not scared of terrorists. I know how to send a message to them," Billal said. (
Silent Classes, Bloody Notebooks: Day After the Pakistan School Massacre)
A team of gunmen stormed the Army Public School in Pakistan's northwestern city of Peshawar on Tuesday, slaughtering 148 people including 132 children. (
The Men Who Shot 132 Children at Their School in Pakistan)
Officials pledged to clean and restore the buildings and reopen on January 4 -- less than three weeks after the attack.
Moakal Jan, 13, lost nine of his friends in the attack. He said he wants to punish the Taliban for Tuesday's bloodshed. (
Inside the Peshawar School Where Young Children Were Shot)
"I want to be an army officer because I have to take revenge of my friends and school fellows," he said. 18-year-old Abu Bakar agreed.
"Since my childhood I have wanted to join the army but now I am absolutely determined to join up," he said. "I want to take revenge for my friends, I want to fight the terrorists."
Schools in Islamabad beefed up security on Thursday and carried out safety drills amid fears of a possible bomb attack targeting school buses. (
Mass Funerals in Pakistan and a School Drenched in Blood)
More than 400 schools in Islamabad were warned of a possible plot to bomb buses carrying students in the capital, Mohammad Tahir Bhatti, spokesman for the Federal Directorate of Education told news agency AFP.
"We received information from various sources that terrorists were planning to attack buses by attaching magnetic bombs and have alerted the managements of institutions accordingly," Mr Bhatti said. (
How the Pakistani Taliban Became a Deadly Force)