PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Jan. 12 (UPI) -- Students and teachers returned to the Army Public School on Monday for the first time following the late December Taliban attack that killed 153, mostly children.
Pakistan army chief General Raheel Sharif and his wife were among the many on hand to greet the anxious children who arrived to begin classes after an extended break following the terrorist attack. Helicopters patrolled the air as soldiers marched on the streets to ensure the students and teachers safely entered the building.
Hasan Syed, 10, who was among the many to return to class, told Al Jazeera he was not afraid to go to school.
"If I go to school, it is like I am challenging the terrorists," he said.
At the same time, victims' families were invited to a special ceremony, but some did not want to attend.
"I did not attend the function as it would have reminded me again of the black day I spent outside the school," one father told NBC News. "After day-long efforts I finally received the bullet-riddled body of my son."
The Army Public School, along with schools across the country, has been closed since Dec. 16, when seven heavily armed Taliban militants stormed the school and killed 134 children.
