More than 100 children among the dead in Taliban attack on Pakistan school
Pakistan military says all six terrorists killed, operations 'closing up'; over 126 people murdered in attack on military-run public school; Taliban says attack is revenge for government targeting their families.
At least 126 people, including more than 100 children, were killed Tuesday when Taliban gunmen stormed a school in the Pakistani city of Peshawar, taking hundreds of students hostage in the bloodiest insurgent attack in the country in years.
The Pakistan military said early Tuesday evening that the sixth and final gunman had been caught and that operations were "closing up" at the school.
"6th terrorist killed in last block," Major General Asim Bajwa tweeted. "IEDs (bombs) planted by terrorists hamper speed of clearance."
"Closing up," he tweeted.
The Taliban had said six insurgents with suicide vests had been dispatched to attack the school.
The attack began in the morning hours, with the gunmen entering the school -- which has students in grades 1-10 -- and shooting at random, said police officer Javed Khan. Army commandos quickly arrived at the scene and exchanged fire with the gunmen, he said.
Military officials at the scene said at least six armed men had entered the military-run Army Public School. About 500 students and teachers were believed to be inside.
"We were standing outside the school and firing suddenly started and there was chaos everywhere and the screams of children and teachers," said Jamshed Khan, a school bus driver.
Troops surrounded the building and an operation was underway to rescue children still trapped inside, the army said. Pakistani television showed soldiers surrounding the area and pushing people back.
Hours into the siege, three explosions were heard inside the military-run high school, and a Reuters journalist at the scene said he heard heavy gunfire.
The Pakistani military said in a statement that a rescue operation was underway and that most of the students and the staff had been evacuated. The school is located on the edge of a military cantonment in Peshawar, but the bulk of the students are civilian.
Outside, as helicopters rumbled overhead, police struggled to hold back distraught parents who were trying to break past a security cordon and get into the school.
Bahramand Khan, director of information for the regional Chief Minister's Secretariat, said at least 126 people were killed and 122 wounded.
"It may rise," he said, adding that more than 100 of the dead were school children. A local hospital said the dead and wounded it had seen were aged between 10 and 20 years old.
The hardline Islamist Taliban movement immediately claimed responsibility.
"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."
It was not clear whether some or all of the children were killed by gunmen, suicide bombs or in the ensuing battle with Pakistani security forces trying to gain control of the building.
The Pakistani Taliban, who are fighting to topple the government and set up a strict Islamic state, have vowed to step up attacks in response to a major army operation against the insurgents in the tribal areas.
They have targeted security forces, checkpoints, military bases and airports, but attacks on civilian targets with no logistical significance are relatively rare.
In September, 2013, dozens of people, including many children, were killed in an attack on a church, also in Peshawar, a sprawling and violent city near the Afghan border.
"An army doctor was visiting us teaching us about first aid when attackers came from behind our school and started firing," one student told Pakistan's Dunya Television.
"Our teachers locked the door and we ducked on the floor, but they (militants) broke down the door. Initially they fired in the air and later started killing the students, but left the hall suddenly.
"The attackers had long beards, wore shalwar kameez (traditional baggy clothes) and spoke Arabic."
One of the wounded students, Abdullah Jamal, said that he was with the group of 8th, 9th and 10th graders who were getting first-aid instructions and training with Pakistani army medics when the violence began for real.
When the shooting started, Jamal, who was shot in the leg, said nobody 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.
"All the children had bullet wounds. All the children were bleeding," Jamal added.
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday afternoon condemned the attack and said he was on his way to Peshawar.
"I can't stay back in Islamabad. This is a national tragedy unleashed by savages. These were my kids," he said in a statement. "This is my loss. This is the nation's loss. I am leaving for Peshawar now and I will supervise this operation myself."
Pakistani teenager Malala Yousafzai, joint winner of this year's Nobel peace prize for her education campaign work, said she was heartbroken by the news of the attack.
Malala, 17, was shot in the head on a school bus by the Taliban in 2012 and won global acclaim for her passionate advocacy of women's right to education.
"I am heartbroken by this senseless and cold-blooded act of terror in Peshawar that is unfolding before us," Malala, who now lives in central England, said in a statement.
"I, along with millions of others around the world, mourn these children, my brothers and sisters - but we will never be defeated," she said.
"Innocent children in their school have no place in horror such as this. I condemn these atrocious and cowardly acts and stand united with the government and armed forces of Pakistan whose efforts so far to address this horrific event are commendable."
The US condemned the "inhuman" attack and pledged its solidarity to the long-suffering people of Pakistan.
"The United States strongly condemns senseless and inhumane attacks on innocent students and educators, and stands in solidarity with the people of Pakistan, and all who fight the menace of terrorism. Few have suffered more at the hands of terrorists and extremists than the people of Pakistan," said US Ambassador to Pakistan Richard Olson in a statement.
"The killing of innocent children is contrary to Islam," Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani said in a statement.
