Pakistan - TTP militants storm Peshawar school, 104 killed

reporting by Reuters, AP, AFP, dpa, and dawn.com

Taliban militants have entered an army-run school on Warsak road, taking students and teachers hostage.

• Five to six terrorists have entered the Army Public School
• 104 including 84 children killed, scores injured
• Firefight, evacuation underway
• About 500 students and teachers are believed to be inside

• 2:10pm - 104 dead in attack: KP CM

  Chief Minister KP Pervez Khattak says 84 children have been killed in the attack.
  "The terrorists entered the school wearing FC personnel uniform," he says.
  He puts the total death toll at 104. He says 23 bodies have been taken to the LRH, with 60 in CMH.
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Gunfire and blasts were heard inside the school, where hundreds of students and staff remained as army personnel and anguished parents surrounded the building in Peshawar high security zone following the morning attack. A Radio Mashaal correspondent said the attack began when armed men entered the Army Public School and opened fire in the morning. Regional officials told RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal that 16 students, a teacher, and a security officer were confirmed dead and dozens of people were wounded. Media reports cited hosptal officials as saying the death toll was at least 21, including 17 students and four adults, and that it could rise as some of the wounded were in critical condition and the siege continued. News reports citing hospital officials put the death toll between 10 and 20, most of them teenage students, and said it was likely to rise. At least 27 others were wounded. A Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesman who called himself Muhammad Khorasani phoned a Radio Mashaal correspondent and claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was revenge for the army operation in North Waziristan. The Pakistani military says it has killed more than 1,100 militants in North Waziristan since it launched an offensive there in June using air strikes, artillery, mortar fire, and ground troops. Khorasani told Reuters that the attackers "have instructions not to harm the children, but to target the army personnel." But most of those confirmed dead were children. Military officials at the scene said that at least six armed men had entered the school and that about 500 students and teachers were believed to be inside. Jamshed Khan, a school bus driver, said he was standing outside the school when "firing suddenly started and there was chaos everywhere and the screams of children and teachers." A teacher told a private television station the attack occurred during exams. "We were in the examination hall when the attack took place," he said. "Now the army men are clearing the classes one by one."