Following a government announcement that teachers in Peshawar, Pakistan, will be armed and receive combat training to 'engage' terrorists, this is the first group pictured to undergo their instruction.

The initiative is a response to the December 16 tragedy in which a group of terrorists stormed the city's Public Army School, massacring 145 people, including 132 schoolchildren.

Officials in Peshawar, capital of Khyber Pakthunkhwa province, said the move would allow teachers to fight off terrorists 'for [an] initial five to 10 minutes' before back-up arrives.

The group of eight teachers were trained by an instructor in how to use various handguns and Kalashnikovs, as well as the principles of taking cover before returning fire.

Pictures show the group, from Frontier College, assembling, loading and looking down the sights of the guns at the behest of a weapons instructor.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa information minister Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani has said the training would allow school staff members to 'engage' attackers for five to ten minutes before law enforcement personnel could respond.

He told reporters on January 13: 'The provincial cabinet has decided to allow teachers and other staff members to keep their licensed weapons with them so that in case of any eventuality they could engage attackers for initial five to 10 minutes before personnel of law-enforcement agencies will show up to respond to the attack.'

The 35,000 educational institutions - including schools, colleges and universities - across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have been ordered to beef up security following the brutal attack on the Army Public School.

Mr Ghani also announced earlier this month that authorities would build walls at least 8ft high around government-run education institutions, and would also introduce community policing systems whereby civilians with experience operating weapons would be trained and paid to guard educational facilities.

Private sector schools, colleges and universities have meanwhile been issued with strict guidelines with requirements including having guards, Mr Ghani said, adding that schools' licenses could be revoked if they did not follow the rules.

In response to the Taliban attack, Pakistan's parliament last week passed a constitutional amendment approving the establishment of military courts to hear terrorism-related cases.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif also lifted the country's six-year-old moratorium on the use of the death penalty, reinstating it for terror cases in the wake of the slaughter at the school.

However, critics have warned the move to arm teachers could put children at even greater risk, as well as affect teachers' performance at work. 

(dailymail.co.uk)