[JURIST] UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein condemned [press release] the “savage extremism” of Taliban insurgents who killed at least 130 people, most of them children, at a school in Pakistan on Tuesday. This attack, described by Zeid as “an utterly despicable and incomprehensibly vicious attack on defenceless children,” led to his call to the public to stop support for the Taliban, the Islamic State, Boko Haram, al Qaeda or any of the takafiri groups, “which appear to be competing to attain the highest level of human barbarity.” These calls for condemnation come after a long-standing [JURIST report] anti-terrorism fight within Pakistan.

As the main place of operations of the Taliban [JURIST news archive], Pakistan has been a focal point of global anti-terrorism efforts. In June a Pakistan court lifted [JURIST report] the ban on international travel for former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf [JURIST news archive], who was indicted [JURIST report] in March for high treason and implicated in the murder of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto [BBC obituary]. A Pakistani businessman responsible for selling a boat engine used in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks was cross-examined [JURIST report] in November 2013 before the country’s Anti-Terrorism Court. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif [BBC profile] claimed [JURIST report] in September 2013 that the country’s anti-terrorism laws would be amended to more effectively combat modern threats.