A Soldier Escorts Schoolchildren From The Army Public School Under Attack By Taliban Gunmen In Peshawar
A soldier escorts schoolchildren from the Army Public School that is under attack by Taliban gunmen in Peshawar, December 16, 2014. Taliban gunmen in Pakistan took hundreds of students and teachers hostage on Tuesday in a school in the northwestern city of Peshawar, military officials said. Reuters/Khuram Parvez

Pakistan military killed six terrorists who captured a school in Peshawar, but not before the extremists killed at least 126 people and injured 122 more. The international community reacted strongly by condemning the attack on innocent school children.

According to eyewitnesses, terrorists dressed in military uniform burned a car and entered an Army Public School in Peshawar, Pakistan. They held at least 1500 children as hostages. One of the children who managed to escape said that the militants had asked the children to sit in the auditorium until the firing was over. Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, a banned organisation in the country, claimed responsibility for the assault. Taliban spokesman Muhammad Umar Khorasani said that their suicide bombers had been instructed not to harm the children. They were apparently asked to target the army personnel. The assault eventually killed more than 100 children while terrorists blew themselves up inside the building. India Today reported that there were 124 children among 132 killed in the attack.

There were three explosions as heavy gunfire was heard at the scene. Helicopters hovered overhead as troops surrounded the school building. The Taliban said that the attack was in retaliation for the Pakistan government's action against the organisation. "We selected the army's school for the attack because the government is targeting our families and females," Reuters quoted Khorasani, "We want them to feel the pain." A local hospital reported that the dead and the wounded were all ages between 10 and 20 years. Five terrorists were suicide attackers who blew themselves up to kill many others with them. The sixth attackers were killed by the army at around 6:30 p.m. while the battle was declared to be over around half an hour later.

The international community reacted to the attack as various major personalities and organisations openly criticised the assault on Twitter. UNICEF extended its "heartfelt sympathy to families of children lost today in horrific #PeshawarAttack." Kailash Satyarthi, the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize winner, posted that "Children are the first casualty of violence and war." It was time everyone came together and put a stop to the violence, he wrote. Another 2014 Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai also condemned the attack. "I, along with millions of others around the world, mourn these children, my brothers and sisters - but we will never be defeated," she wrote.

The White House condemned the attacked "in strongest possible terms." Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi condemned the attack saying "Killing children at school is an inconceivable horror; the world must react to this violence." German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier also condemned the attack in the strongest terms. India Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote: "My heart goes out to everyone who lost their loved ones today. We share their pain & offer our deepest condolences."

We extend our heartfelt sympathy to families of children lost today in horrific #PeshawarAttack. We mourn with them. http://t.co/fuZQOIBlCk

— UNICEF (@UNICEF) December 16, 2014

Children are the first casualty of violence and war. It is time we all came together and #PutAStop to this violence. #PeshawarAttack — Kailash Satyarthi (@k_satyarthi) December 16, 2014

"I, along with millions of others around the world, mourn these children, my brothers and sisters - but we will never be defeated." -#Malala

— Malala Fund (@MalalaFund) December 16, 2014

My heart goes out to everyone who lost their loved ones today. We share their pain & offer our deepest condolences. — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 16, 2014

Bambini, bambini uccisi, bambini uccisi a scuola. Inconcepibile. Il mondo deve reagire all'orrore

— Matteo Renzi (@matteorenzi) December 16, 2014

#PeshawarAttack Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier condemns the attack in a school in Peshawar in the strongest terms. — German Consulate (@Germany_Karachi) December 16, 2014

Contact the writer: s.mukhopadhyay@ibtimes.com.au

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