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Over 100 children believed killed in Taliban attack on Pakistan school Over 100 children believed killed in Taliban attack on Pakistan school
(35 minutes later)
More than 100 children are feared dead after a Taliban attack on an army-run school in the Pakistani city of Peshawar that officials said had killed as many as 126 people. At least 126 people, more than 100 of them children, have been killed in a Pakistan Taliban attack at an army school in Peshawar, according to provincial officials.
Militants wearing army uniforms led the attack on the school, which teaches the children of military personnel and civilians. Hundreds of children were thought to be present when the attack began. Many children escaped but some are still being held hostage. Hours after the initial assault, reporters at the scene said they could still hear firing and explosions.
A police official said 104 children had been killed and 100 injured. “Some of the injured are critical so the death toll could rise,” he said. The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility. Pakistan helicopter gunships hovered above the school but were unable to open fire because children were still being held.
Fighting continued in the school more than four hours after the attack began. The provincial government said there were a series of explosions after 3.30pm local time. Police were struggling to hold back distraught parents trying to break past a cordon and get to the school when the three loud explosions went off. Related: More than 120 people killed in Pakistan Taliban school siege, says official - live updates
#PeshawarAttacks continue: #PakArmy Operation in progress. 1 more terrorist commits suicide bombing Six or more attackers, dressed in army uniform, mounted the assault on the school for the children of army personnel shortly after 11am. Hundreds were in the school at the time.
In a sign of the scale of the attack, the Lady Reading hospital put out an appeal for blood. The attackers, some of them wearing suicide vests, managed to get into the school from the roof of a van parked next to a wall that abuts a graveyard, according to local police. They began firing at random. Another blew himself up as security guards approached.
Dr Abdul Wahab, the head of the emergency department, said 26 bodies were brought in, most of whom were children. There were also up to 100 injured people, again mostly children, with bullet wounds and shrapnel damage, he said. A student who was in the school at the time of the attack told local media: “The gunmen entered class by class and shot some kids one by one.”
“There are hundreds and hundreds of people [here] to donate blood. The hospital is full of people looking for their loved ones,” he said. Fighting continued in the school more than four hours after the attack began. Police were struggling to hold back distraught parents trying to break past a cordon and get to the school when the three loud explosions went off after 3.30pm local time.
Details were sketchy in the unfolding situation and it was unclear what was going on inside. Around 500 students and teachers were believed to be present. The Pakistan Taliban, Tehreek-e-Taliban, claimed responsibility, saying it was in revenge for a ferocious army offensive in the tribal areas since June.
Gunfire and helicopters were heard outside the school as troops surrounded the building and ambulances carried the wounded to hospital. “We selected the army’s school for the attack because the government is targeting our families and females,” said a Taliban spokesman, Muhammad Umar Khorasani. “We want them to feel the pain.”
Waqar-Ullah Khattack, one of four teachers invigilating an exam at the school, said he and colleagues immediately told students to get down on the floor when they heard AK47 rounds and grenade blasts at 11am. Before leaving the capital Islamabad for Peshawar, Pakistan’s prime minister Nawaz Sharif described the massacre as a “a national tragedy”.
After less than an hour they were led to safety by commandos, past the bodies of at least seven dead children. “I have no words for this type of terrorism because we are all just too mentally upset,” he said.
The army said in a statement that many hostages had been evacuated but did not say how many.
“Rescue operation by troops under way. Exchange of fire continues. Bulk of student(s) and staff evacuated. Reports of some children and teachers killed by terrorist,” the army said in a brief English-language statement. A spokesman said troops were carrying out a “clearance” operation in the school.
The Pakistani prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, said the attack was a “national tragedy”, as he left for Peshawar.
PM #NawazSharif has arrived in #Peshawar on an emergency visit http://t.co/3JMqrAQXdm pic.twitter.com/7a8sUtF7WPPM #NawazSharif has arrived in #Peshawar on an emergency visit http://t.co/3JMqrAQXdm pic.twitter.com/7a8sUtF7WP
The attack began in the morning hours, with the gunmen entering the school and shooting at random, said a police officer, Javed Khan. Army commandos quickly arrived at the scene and exchanged fire with the gunmen, he said. A police official in Peshawar told the Guardian that 104 children had been killed and 100 injured. “Some of the injured are critical so the death toll could rise,” he said.
Provincial information minister Mushtaq Ghani said many of the dead were killed in a suicide blast. Dr Abdul Wahab, head of the emergency department at Lady Reading hospital, which has made an appeal for blood, said 26 bodies had been brought in, most of them children, and about 100 injured, again mostly children, wounded by bullets or shrapnel.
Ali Khan, a police official who works in the district where the school is located, said between eight and 10 terrorists wearing army uniforms were involved in the attack. They jumped into the compound from the roof of a tall van which they had parked near the school.
“One of them blew himself up as soon as the guards came to capture them. The others started moving towards classes and the principal’s room.”
“This is an upper middle-class area and most of the children belong to army families. One of our policemen, who was there, claimed around 200 children have been killed but it is not yet confirmed.”
Wounded student Abdullah Jamal told the Associated Press he was getting first-aid instructions and training with a team of Pakistani army medics when the attack began.
Jamal, who was shot in the leg, said no one knew what was going on in the first few seconds. “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.
Waqar-Ullah Khattack, one of four invigilators at an exam for 61 students aged 14-16 in the school, told the Guardian he and his colleagues immediately told the students to get down on the floor when they heard firing from an AK-47 and blasts from grenades around 11am local time.
Given the number of terror attacks in the city, he said they had been trained for such an eventuality. Less than an hour after hitting the floor, they were led to safety by commandos, walking past the bodies of at least seven dead children.
“I have no words for this type of terrorism because we are all just too mentally upset,” Khattack said.
Mudassar Abbas, a physics laboratory assistant at the school, said some students were celebrating at a party when the attack began.Mudassar Abbas, a physics laboratory assistant at the school, said some students were celebrating at a party when the attack began.
“I saw six or seven people walking class-to-class and opening fire on children,” he said.“I saw six or seven people walking class-to-class and opening fire on children,” he said.
A student who survived the attack said soldiers came to rescue students during a lull in the firing.A student who survived the attack said soldiers came to rescue students during a lull in the firing.
“When we were coming out of the class we saw dead bodies of our friends lying in the corridors. They were bleeding. Some were shot three times, some four times,” the student said.“When we were coming out of the class we saw dead bodies of our friends lying in the corridors. They were bleeding. Some were shot three times, some four times,” the student said.
“The men entered the rooms one by one and started indiscriminate firing at the staff and students.”“The men entered the rooms one by one and started indiscriminate firing at the staff and students.”
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack. The army, in a statement, said: “Rescue operation by troops under way. Exchange of fire continues. Bulk of student(s) and staff evacuated.”
It comes as the Pakistani military wages a major offensive against Taliban and other militants in the tribal area of North Waziristan. The Pakistani Taliban, who are fighting to topple the government and set up a strict Islamic state, have vowed to step up attacks against Pakistani targets in response. The gunmen entered opened fire at random on entering the school, according to police officer Javid Khan. Army commandos quickly arrived at the scene and began exchanging fire.
India condemned the attack with the home minister, Rajnath Singh, saying it exposed the “real face of terrorism”. Tehreek-e-Taliban is allied to the Afghanistan Taliban, sharing similar aims about the establishment of sharia law and opposition to the US but, unlike the Afghanistan Taliban, regards the Pakistan government as a target.
My heart goes out to the families of those children who got killed by the terrorists in Peshwar. I express my condolences to those families The Pakistan army has hit hard at the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, home to Tehreek-e-Taliban, since June following an attack on the international airport in Karachi. Hundreds have been killed in the FATA and tens of thousands displaced.
The British prime minister, David Cameron, said he was horrified by the attack. The Indian prime minister, Nahendra Modi, condemned the attack.
It is a senseless act of unspeakable brutality that has claimed lives of the most innocent of human beings - young children in their school.
The British prime minister, David Cameron, said he was horrified.
PM: The news from Pakistan is deeply shocking. It’s horrifying that children are being killed simply for going to school.PM: The news from Pakistan is deeply shocking. It’s horrifying that children are being killed simply for going to school.