The deadliest attack by Taliban insurgents

As of last night, the Pakistani army killed nine gunmen who attacked a school in the city of Peshawar. The total number of people killed in the school massacre by militants and in the military crackdown is 146; the number of injured is 245.

Pakistani media quoted security and hospital sources as saying that before being killed, gunmen attacked a military-run public school on the morning of December 16, killing 137 people and wounding 245, Xinhua reported last night. Most of the victims were students aged 9-17.

Shortly after the operation to eliminate the militants ended last night, another large explosion was heard in Peshawar - the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in northwestern Pakistan, bordering Afghanistan. At least two people were injured in the explosion. It is not yet clear whether this explosion is related to the militants attacking the school. Local media reported that one or two militants may have fled the school, escaping the army's search and destroy operation.

Relatives mourn a 15-year-old student killed in the massacre. Photo: Reuters

The attack on the school occurred at 10:30 a.m. (Pakistan time), when a group of militants dressed in military uniforms stormed the school on Warsak Road in central Peshawar. The school mainly teaches children of military families. The Pakistani Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack. This is the bloodiest attack by insurgents in recent years.

Witnesses said a huge explosion rocked the school; about a dozen gunmen then stormed classroom after classroom, shooting at students and teachers, killing many of them with multiple gunshot wounds. Reuters quoted local officials as saying that many of the students were children of military personnel, most of them under the age of 16.

The Pakistani military said nearly a dozen gunmen wearing paramilitary uniforms and carrying suicide bombs stormed the school. A worker and a student interviewed by Geo TV said the attackers entered the school's assembly room, where a group of soldiers were teaching first aid to students.

Local residents said they heard students screaming. It appeared the gunmen were trying to kill as many students as possible, not take hostages as initially thought. A doctor at the nearby Lady Reading Hospital said many students were in serious condition with multiple injuries, Reuters reported.

Pakistan is still increasing its forces to search for and destroy the rebels. Photo: AP

More than five hours after the attack, the Pakistani military said that almost all of the school's 500 students had been evacuated. The school was one of 146 public schools across the country that cater to the children of military personnel and civilians.

Target of retaliation

The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) group claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was in retaliation for military operations against them. The TTP said the gunmen had been ordered to shoot at the elderly students. TTP spokesman Muhammad Khorasani said the attack was in retaliation for the deaths of TTP fighters and their families in military operations against their base in North Waziristan. “We did this because we wanted them to feel the terrible pain of their loved ones being killed. We did this so that their families would cry like ours,” Khorasani said.

Upon arriving in Peshawar, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif described the attack as a “national tragedy.” Pakistani politicians have for years been reluctant to support a military campaign against the Taliban.

According to TPO