Death toll reaches 141 in massacre at Pakistan school
Islamabad, December 17, AZERTAC
Taliban gunmen stormed into a Pakistan school Tuesday and killed at least 141 people, most of them children, before army commandos swept in and halted the siege, Pakistan authorities said.
The attack at the Army Public School — a military-run facility in the northwestern city of Peshawar for students in grades 1-10 — began in the early morning when gunmen entered the school and shot at random, police officer Javed Khan said.
Army commandos quickly arrived at the scene and exchanged fire with the gunmen, he said. An intelligence official told the Associated Press that nine militants had been killed. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
"The operation is completed," Bilal Ahmad Faizi, the head of the state-run rescue organization, announced hours after the attack began.
Mushtaq Ghani, the province's information minister, said most of the dead were children and teens.
Taliban spokesman Mohammed Khurasani claimed responsibility for the attack in a phone call to news media, saying six suicide bombers carried out the attack in revenge for the killings of Taliban members by Pakistani authorities. Tehreek-e-Taliban is a Pakistani militant group pressing to overthrow the government.
Pakistani army Gen. Asim Bajwa tweeted that "several ops" had been launched by Pakistan after the attack, including 10 airstrikes. Pehsawar sits near the border with Afghanistan, the primary base of operations for the Taliban. Peshawar has been the target of frequent militant attacks in recent years — in September 2013 a twin suicide bomb blast in a Peshawar church killed at least 85 people.
Bajwa said 132 children and 9 staff members died in the attack. An additional 121 youths and three staff members were wounded, he said.
President Obama was among numerous heads of state condemning the attack.
"Our hearts and prayers go out to the victims, their families, and loved ones," Obama said in a statement. "By targeting students and teachers in this heinous attack, terrorists have once again shown their depravity. We stand with the people of Pakistan, and reiterate the commitment of the United States to support the government of Pakistan in its efforts to combat terrorism and extremism and to promote peace and stability in the region."
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