President Barack Obama decried the "heinous" attack in Peshawar and said the U.S. would continue to support Pakistan's efforts to combat terrorism and extremism.
from Chanel News Asia: The attack began around 10.30am local time when a group of at least five insurgents, reportedly in military uniforms, entered the school. A security official told AFP that hundreds of students and staff were in the school when the attack began, though according to the military the bulk of them have been evacuated.
Around five and a half hours after the attack began, the army's chief spokesman General Asim Bajwa said the attackers had been cleared from all but one of the school's buildings. Five militants had been killed, Bajwa said.
'NATIONAL TRAGEDY'
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif described the attack as a "national tragedy unleashed by savages". "These were my children. This is my loss. This is the nation's loss," he said.
Provincial information minister Mushtaq Ghani told AFP the death toll had reached 130, with a similar number wounded. The toll was confirmed by another provincial minister. Provincial chief minister Pervez Khattak said the attackers were wearing uniforms of the government paramilitary Frontier Corps.
Mudassar Abbas, a physics laboratory assistant at the school, said some students were celebrating at a party when the attack began. "I saw six or seven people walking class-to-class and opening fire on children," he said.
One student said soldiers came to rescue them during a lull in the firing. "When we were coming out of the class we saw dead bodies of our friends lying in the corridors. They were bleeding. Some were shot three times, some four times," the student said. "The men entered the rooms one by one and started indiscriminate firing at the staff and students."
'SOFT TARGET'
The school on Peshawar's Warsak Road is part of the Army Public Schools and Colleges System, which runs 146 schools nationwide for the children of military personnel and civilians. Its students range in age from around 10 to 18. The schools educate the children of both officers and non-commissioned soldiers and army wives often teach in them.
TTP spokesman Muhammad Khorasani said the attack was carried out to avenge Taliban fighters and their families killed in the army's offensive against militant strongholds in North Waziristan.
"We are doing this because we want them to feel the pain of how terrible it is when your loved ones are killed," he said. "We are taking this step so that their families should mourn as ours are mourning."
The military has hailed the operation as a major success in disrupting the TTP's insurgency, which has killed thousands of Pakistanis since it erupted in 2007. More than 1,600 militants have been killed since the launch of Zarb-e-Azb in June, according to data compiled by AFP from regular military statements.
Talat Masood, a retired general and security analyst, said the attack was intended to weaken the military's resolve. "It is both tactical and strategic. The militants know they won't be able to strike at the heart of the military, they don't have the capacity because the army are prepared," Masood told AFP.
"So they are going for soft targets. These attacks have a great psychological impact."
The semi-autonomous tribal areas that border Afghanistan have for years been a hideout for Islamist militants of all stripes - including Al-Qaeda and the homegrown TTP as well as foreign fighters such as Uzbeks and Uighurs.
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