At least 145 people – including 132 children – were murdered Tuesday in a Taliban terror attack on a school in Pakistan. More than 100 others were wounded in the slaughter, General Asim Bajwa told journalists.
Also among the dead at Army Public School and Degree College in Peshawar were ten school staff members and three soldiers, according to a post on the CNN website.
A 14-year-old student told the news team he remembered one of the terrorists declaring, “Allahu Akbar!” (God is great), and then, “A lot of the children are under the benches. Kill them.”
Pakistani Taliban spokesperson Mohammed Khurrassani said the attackers began their rampage at 10 am local time. He added that at one point, the terrorists held up to 400 people “under their custody.” But he emphasized there was never a question of a “hostage situation,” since from the start the focus had been on shooting to kill, rather than taking captives.
Pakistani troops eventually managed to narrow down the area in which the terrorists were operating and by 4 pm, had the attackers restricted to four buildings. Within a few hours, all seven terrorists were dead.
Mop up operations have yet to be completed, however; security personnel are still searching the complex for survivors, victims and IEDs (improvised explosive devices).