An ongoing Taliban-led assault Tuesday on a Pakistan military-run school has left at least 130 people dead, mostly children and teenagers in grades 1-10, officials say, in the worst attack to hit the country in years.
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif condemned the assault in the northwestern city of Peshawar and rushed to the area to show his support for the victims.
The horrific attack, carried out by a relatively small number of militants from the Tehreek-e-Taliban group, a Pakistani militant group trying to overthrow the government, also sent dozens of wounded flooding into local hospitals as terrified parents searched for their children.
"My son was in uniform in the morning. He is in a casket now," wailed one parent, Tahir Ali, as he came to the hospital to collect the body of his 14-year-old son Abdullah. "My son was my dream. My dream has been killed."
Pervez Khattak, the chief minister of the province where the attack is underway, said scores of those killed were mostly "children" but hospital officials earlier said at least one of the fatalities was a teacher and one security official were also among the dead. Khattak said fighting is still unfolding at the school.
A local hospital official told Reuters that the dead and wounded it had seen were between the ages of 10 and 20 years old.
The attack began in the morning hours, with about half a dozen gunmen entering the school — and shooting at random, said police officer Javed Khan. Army commandos quickly arrived at the scene and started exchanging fire with the gunmen, he said. Students wearing their green school uniforms could be seen on Pakistani television, fleeing the area.
Pakistan’s military said six gunmen have been killed inside the school so far at the operations are closing up, Reuters reports.
Outside the school, two loud booms of unknown origin were heard coming from the scene in the early afternoon, as Pakistani troops battled with the attackers. Armored personnel carriers were deployed around the school grounds
Pakistani television showed soldiers surrounding the area and pushing people back. Ambulances streamed from the area to local hospitals.
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/12/16/taliban-pakistan-school-attack/
