Death toll in Peshawar school attack passes 132

At least 132 people lost their lives, mostly young students, and dozens others injured when militants stormed an army-run school situated on Warsak Road in Peshawar Tuesday.

Five or six militants wearing military uniforms made their way into the Army Public School, a source at the school told.

"There has been an incident of firing at Army Public School in Peshawar. Troops have cordoned off the area and (are) searching for the militants," a senior military official told.

The militants took students and teachers hostage while exchange of fire between the militants and security forces is underway. A senior police official said a "huge blast" had occurred inside the building.

The military sources said a "rescue operation" was underway and the bulk of staff and students had been evacuated.

Chief Minister KP Pervez Khattak told the media that 126 people including 122 students were killed in the attack.

"The terrorists entered the school wearing FC personnel uniform," he said.

He told that 23 bodies were brought to the Lady Reading Hospital while over 100 in Combined Military Hospital (CMH). Emergency has been declared in the Peshawar hospital.

The security sources told that three militants were also killed during the rescue operation while one blew himself in a blast.

Warsak Road was closed for all sorts of traffic while a vehicle was also set ablaze by the militants on the road.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif left for Peshawar to supervise the ongoing rescue operation against Taliban.

He said that he can’t sit and wait in Islamabad, therefore, he is heading to Peshawar to supervise the operation.

The attack comes as the military wages a major offensive against Taliban and other militants in the tribal area of North Waziristan.

TTP claims attack

A spokesman for a faction of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack, saying the gunmen had been ordered to shoot older students but not children.

TTP spokesman Muhammad Khorasani told there were six attackers.

"They include target killers and suicide attackers. They have been ordered to shoot the older students but not the children," he said.