Dozens pack Pocatello vigil for Pakistan terror victims

Dozens of people attended a candlelight vigil in Pocatello Thursday night to remember those gunned down at a school in Pakistan this week.

At least 145 people including 132 children were killed when Taliban militants opened fire on the school in Peshawar, about 120 miles west of Pakistan’s capital.

Thursday night’s vigil was hosted by Pocatello doctor Rahim Fahim, who grew up in Peshawar and still has family there.

“I’m heartbroken. It’s sickening,” said Misty Coffin, who attended the vigil. “I’ve had a sick feeling in my stomach ever since I found out about this.”

But Pocatello resident Ali Khan is sicker than most. He attended classes at the school where the attack took place during his teenage years and lived just one street away.

“Ten years ago, if they would have done the same thing, I would have been one of those students,” said Khan.

Khan said that even in his days as a student the region was tumultuous. But he said he never imagined his former school would become the site of an attack of this scale.

“There was this constant fear, but fortunately, we never faced it like this,” said Khan.

Three of Khan’s former teachers were among those killed in Tuesday’s attack.

But while the terror hits home for many in Pocatello, they say no amount of bullets can take away from what’s most important.

“We might be thousands of miles away. We might belong to different religions, and cultures and backgrounds and identity, but we will stop and we will get together and we will unite,” said Rahim.