(Vatican Radio) Taliban gunmen stormed a military-run school in the northwestern
Pakistani city of Peshawar on Tuesday, killing 126 people, officials said, in the
worst attack to hit the country in years.
The overwhelming majority of the victims were students at the army public school,
which has children and teenagers in grades 1-10. Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
condemned the assault and rushed to Peshawar to show his support for the victims.
The horrific attack, carried out by a relatively small number of militants from the
Tehreek-e-Taliban, 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.
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.
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. Armoured personnel
carriers were deployed around the school grounds, and a Pakistani military helicopter
circled overhead.
Details were sketchy in the face of the overwhelming tragedy. Pakistani television
showed soldiers surrounding the area and pushing people back. Ambulances streamed
from the area to local hospitals.
The information minister for the province, Mushtaq Ghani, said 126 people were killed
in the attack. Most of the dead were students, children and teenagers from the school,
he said. Hospital officials said earlier that at least one teacher and a paramilitary
soldier were among the dead.
Pervez Khattak, the chief minister of the province where Peshawar is located, said
fighting was still underway in some parts of the school.
The prime minister vowed that the country would not be cowed by the violence and that
the military would continue with an aggressive operation launched in June in the North
Waziristan tribal area to rout militants.
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