A group of students and teachers who survived a Taliban massacre at Peshawar Army Public School left for a trip to China aimed at healing the mental scars of their ordeal.
“The basic aim of the visit is to divert the attention of the survivors,” from the nightmare, (They had been though) a security official told the media.
Heavily-armed militants stormed the school in December, killing 150 people, most of them children, in Pakistan’s bloodiest-ever terror attack.
The carnage horrified the world and left many survivors badly traumatised. Now 10 students and two teachers who escaped the bloodshed have been sent on a 10-day trip to help them recover.
An official at the Army Public School confirmed the visit and said that “more survivors will be sent in coming days to other countries”.
Both the officials spoke on condition of anonymity.
The officials said the decision was taken after psychiatrists suggested that survivors need long-term therapy and mental health counselling.
The security official in Peshawar said the parents of children killed in the attack would be sent to on pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia in the coming days.
Earlier, the national cricket team had also visited the School to bolster the morale of the students.