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Scores Killed in Taliban Attack on School in Pakistan Taliban Kill Scores in Attack on Pakistan Military School
(35 minutes later)
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — In one of Pakistan’s bloodiest attacks in recent years, scores of people were killed after a group of Taliban gunmen stormed a school in northwestern Pakistan, officials and rescue workers said on Tuesday. Hundreds of students remained trapped inside the compound as security forces exchanged fire with the gunmen, officials said.ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — In one of Pakistan’s bloodiest attacks in recent years, scores of people were killed after a group of Taliban gunmen stormed a school in northwestern Pakistan, officials and rescue workers said on Tuesday. Hundreds of students remained trapped inside the compound as security forces exchanged fire with the gunmen, officials said.
The toll of dead and injured remained uncertain, but a regional official said that as many as 100 had been killed and 80 wounded in the attack, most of them students.The toll of dead and injured remained uncertain, but a regional official said that as many as 100 had been killed and 80 wounded in the attack, most of them students.
The siege started Tuesday morning around 10 a.m. when at least five to six heavily armed Taliban gunmen entered Army Public School and Degree College in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province. According to initial reports, the gunmen opened fire on students and have taken dozens of them as hostages. Some students managed to escape the school compound, the local news media reported.The siege started Tuesday morning around 10 a.m. when at least five to six heavily armed Taliban gunmen entered Army Public School and Degree College in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province. According to initial reports, the gunmen opened fire on students and have taken dozens of them as hostages. Some students managed to escape the school compound, the local news media reported.
The gunmen entered the school after scaling a wall at the rear of the main school building. They opened fire and took dozens of students hostage in the main auditorium of the building, the news media reported. The gunmen entered after scaling a wall at the rear of the main school building. They opened fire and took dozens of students hostage in the main auditorium of the building, the news media reported.
Local television news networks broadcast images of panic-stricken students, wearing the school uniform of green sweaters and blazers, being evacuated from the school compound. The wounded have been taken to Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar, where a state of emergency has been declared. Local television news networks broadcast images of panic-stricken students, wearing the school uniform of green sweaters and blazers, being evacuated from the compound. The wounded have been taken to Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar, where a state of emergency has been declared.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has left the capital, Islamabad, for Peshawar, state-run news media reported, saying he would personally supervise the operation against the militants. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has left the capital, Islamabad, for Peshawar, the state-run news media reported, saying he would personally supervise the operation against the militants.
A spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack and said it was in retaliation to the military’s offensive against militant hideouts in the North Waziristan tribal region. Pakistani military carried out an offensive, “Operation Zab-e-Azb,” in June and have claimed to have cleared 90 percent of the restive region that has long been a redoubt of local and foreign militants. A spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack and said that it was in retaliation to the military’s offensive against militant hide-outs in the North Waziristan tribal region. The Pakistani military carried out an offensive, known as Operation Zarb-e-Azb, in June and has claimed to have cleared 90 percent of the restive region that has long been a redoubt of local and foreign militants.
Pervez Khattak, the chief minister of the province, said that as many as 100 teenage students have been killed, while 83 were wounded in the attack. Mr. Khattak said the gunmen were wearing the uniforms of a paramilitary force and were armed with suicide vests. Pervez Khattak, the chief minister of the province, said that as many as 100 teenage students had been killed, while 83 were wounded in the attack. Mr. Khattak said the gunmen were wearing the uniforms of a paramilitary force and were armed with suicide vests.
As the news of the attack spread, distraught parents rushed toward the school and to hospitals. The school has been cordoned off by security forces, and there were reports of heavy gunfire as military commandos and troops battled with the militants inside.
By the afternoon, three blocs of the school had been cleared, while the remaining parts were being cleared, a military spokesman said. There were unconfirmed news reports that at least three gunmen had been killed, as well as a suicide bomber who had detonated his explosives.
The attack comes at a time of intense political strife in Pakistan. The opposition politician Imran Khan, who controls Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, has been staging protest rallies in major cities. Mr. Khan claims that the general elections of 2013 were rigged and is now demanding a judicial investigation.
Since August, his party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, has carried out protests in the capital against Mr. Sharif and has demanded his resignation. On Monday, Mr. Khan’s party paralyzed the eastern city of Lahore by blocking its main roads and protesting outside main government buildings. The party has announced that it will try to shut down the entire country on Thursday. Mr. Sharif has responded by inviting Mr. Khan to the negotiating table.
While the political parties fight it out on the streets, the attack on Tuesday was a grim reminder that militancy remains the most potent threat to the country. The military says that at least 1,800 militants have been killed in Operation Zarb-e-Azb and that the terrorists remain on the run.