84 killed as Taliban attacks Pakistani school (update)

PanARMENIAN.Net - Taliban gunmen have killed at least 84 schoolchildren and wounded dozens more in a school attack in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar on Tuesday, Dec 16, Sky News reports.

Six men stormed the army-run school, according to military officials, and soldiers surrounded the building.

Provincial health minister Shahram Khan told Sky News that a female teacher and soldier were also among the dead. The death toll could be as high as 95, according to the AFP news agency.

Around 500 children and teachers were believed to be inside, with many students rushed to local hospitals in a critical condition.

The army said in a statement that hostages had been evacuated but did not say how many.

Video and photos showed young children in their green uniforms being led away from the school by soldiers.

"Rescue operation by troops under way. Exchange of fire continues. Bulk of student(s) and staff evacuated. Reports of some children and teachers killed by terrorist," the army said in a brief English-language statement.

Gunmen and suicide bombers targeted the school while an exam was taking place, said a teacher.

"We selected the army's school for the attack because the government is targeting our families and females," said Taliban spokesman Muhammad Umar Khorasani. "We want them to feel our pain."

"We were standing outside the school and firing suddenly started and there was chaos everywhere and the screams of children and teachers," said a school bus driver.

The school is located on the edge of a military cantonment in Peshawar, but the majority of the students are civilian.

One of the wounded students, Abdullah Jamal, said that he was with a group of 8th, 9th and 10th graders who were getting first-aid instructions and training with a team of Pakistani army medics when the violence began for real.

When the shooting started, Abdullah, who was shot in the leg, said nobody knew what was going on in the first few seconds.

"Then I saw children falling down who were crying and screaming. I also fell down. I learned later that I have got a bullet," he said, speaking from his hospital bed.

"All the children had bullet wounds. All the children were bleeding," Abdullah added.

A Taliban spokesman told the Reuters news agency the attack was "revenge" for an army offensive against the group in North Waziristan.

"Our suicide bombers have entered the school, they have instructions not to harm the children, but to target the army personnel," he said.

British Prime Minister David Cameron condemned the attack and called it "deeply shocking".

"It's horrifying that children are being killed simply for going to school," he said.