Taliban attack on Pakistan school leaves 141 dead

Funeral services for some of the 141 children and staff killed in a Taliban attack on a military-run school in Peshawar, Pakistan, began Tuesday evening.

As clerics announced the deaths over mosque loudspeakers, the government declared three days of mourning for those killed when gunmen stormed the school in the northwestern Pakistani city near the border with Afghanistan.

PAKISTAN TALIBAN ATTACK

A candlelight vigil in Quetta, Pakistan, for the victims of Tuesday's Taliban attack on an army-run school in Peshawar. At least 132 children and nine staff members were killed in the assault. (Shahzaib Akber/EPA)

The majority of victims were students at the school, which is attended by about 1,100 students in grades 1-10. Nine staff members also died in the attack and another 121 students and three staff members were wounded.

Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a militant group bent on overthrowing the government, claimed responsibility for the attack.

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who rushed to Peshawar soon after the assault began, condemned the attack and pledged to step up the campaign that — along with U.S. drone strikes — has targeted Taliban militants in the Waziristan tribal region southwest of Peshawar.

"We will take account of each and every drop of our children's blood," he said.

The military launched an offensive in June in North Waziristan, vowing to go after all militant groups that operate in the region that borders Afghanistan. Security officials and civilians had feared retribution by militants, but until Tuesday, a widespread backlash had failed to materialize.

The assault on the school began in the morning when seven militants wearing vests of explosives scaled a back wall of the school using a ladder. They opened fire when they reached an auditorium where students had gathered for an event. From there, they went to classrooms and other parts of the school.

Army commandos quickly arrived at the scene and started exchanging fire with the gunmen. It took them eight hours to end the assault and clear the school. All of the attackers died in the assault, but it was not immediately clear whether they were killed by soldiers or whether they blew themselves up.

Pakistani military spokesman Asim Bajwa said the militants did not seem to have any intention of taking the children hostage or making demands that would further the group's aims.

"Their sole purpose, it seems, was to kill those innocent kids. That's what they did," he said.

TTP spokesman Muhammad Khorasani told the Agence France-Presse news agency that the attackers were ordered to "shoot older students but not children," but survivors of the attack told media the gunmen shot indiscriminately, and some of the victims were as young as 10.

Many of the students at the school are children of military personnel, meaning the attack is sure to enrage the country's powerful army.

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