At least 100 people have been killed, including 84 children, after Taliban gunmen stormed a military school in the north-western Pakistani city of Peshawar, in one of the worst ever militant attacks to hit the troubled region.
Mail Online reports:
The attack started with the gunmen entering the 500-pupil school - which has students in grades 1-10, thought to be ages 5 to 14 - in the early hours and shooting at random, going from classroom to classroom.
Army commandos quickly arrived at the scene and exchanged fire with the gunmen.
Some students are being held hostage and the fighting continues more than three hours after the attack began, according to defence officials. It's thought that three gunmen are holed up inside, three having died.
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif called the massacre a 'national tragedy' and is on his way to the area.
'We selected the army's school for the attack because the government is targeting our families and females,' said Taliban spokesman Muhammad Umar Khorasani. 'We want them to feel the pain.'
Outside the school, shooting was initially heard, and one loud bang of unknown origin.
Details were sketchy in the unfolding situation and it was unclear what was going on inside the school and if any of the students were taken hostage.
'There is a graveyard attached to back wall of the school that is run by Pakistani Military, most of the students studying in this school were children of military officers.
'Attacking innocent children is the most abominable crime and such an attack will not be accepted at all.
'This can be the reaction of ongoing military operations against terrorists in the North Waziristan area of Pakistan.'
Student Shuja khan claimed that 'the attack took place the time a senior military officer started his address during the function that was going on inside the school'.
He added: 'I am not sure but he was the Corp Commander Peshawar who when he started his speech terrorists opened fire on the students sitting in the function.'
Mohammad Khorasani, the spokesman for Pakistani's Taliban Fazal Ullah group, accepted responsibility for the attack.
He said: 'It's a gift for those who thought they have crushed us in their so called military operation in North Waziristan.
'They [the Pakistani military] were always wrong about our capabilities, We are still able to carry out major attacks. Today was just the trailer.
'Six of our Mujahideen, including three suicide bombers took part in this attack and with the grace of almighty they all executed the plan very accurately.
'We selected the army's school for the attack because the government is targeting our families and females. We want them to feel the pain.'
Prime Minister David Cameron today said the Taliban attack on the military school was 'deeply shocking'.
'It's horrifying that children are being killed simply for going to school,' he said.
Pakistani television showed soldiers surrounding the area and pushing people back.
Jamil Shah, a spokesman for Lady Reading Hospital, said five students were killed and 36 people were wounded. Two of the injured were teachers and the rest were students, he said.
Later, one of the wounded students, Abdullah Jamal, said he was with a group of 8th, 9th and 10th graders who were getting first-aid instructions and training with a team of Pakistani army medics when the attack began.
'Then I saw children falling down who were crying and screaming. I also fell down. I learned later that I have got a bullet,' he said, speaking from his hospital bed.
'All the children had bullet wounds. All the children were bleeding,' he added.
Peshawar has been the target of frequent militant attacks in the past.
Source: Mail Online
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