The death toll already exceeds one hundred innocents. Utterly barbarous:
At least 130 people, most of them children, were killed on Tuesday after Taliban gunmen broke into a school in the Pakistani city of Peshawar and opened fire, witnesses said, in the bloodiest massacre the country has seen for years.More than eight hours after militants entered the school compound, the military declared the operation to flush them out over, and said that all nine insurgents had been killed.
Some additional, chilling details:
Pakistani media say vast majority of dead are school children. Many were at an assembly when attackers stormed the school, opened fire.
— Richard Engel (@RichardEngel) December 16, 2014Nearly 200 people were also injured:
Death toll in Pakistan Taliban terror attack of children’s school in Peshawar stands at 130 killed and 182 injured: province info minister
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) December 16, 2014Not surprisingly, a “Taliban commander” who helped carry out the pogrom told The Daily Beast that the attack was…justified:
“The TTP is ready for a long, long war against the U.S. puppet state of Pakistan,” a TTP Taliban commander told me when I reached him on his Afghan cell phone. “We are just displaced, but we are still in positions to attack wherever we want," said Jihad Yar Wazir.Yar Wazir justified the killings as fitting retribution. “The parents of the army school are army soldiers and they are behind the massive killing of our kids and indiscriminate bombing in North and South Waziristan," which are the TTP strongholds. “To hurt them at their safe haven and homes—such an attack is perfect revenge.”
“Perfect revenge” will not bring back the Taliban's loved ones. In fact, such stunning acts of vengeance will only garner forceful and near-universal condemnation throughout the world.
The president of the United States has already released a statement:
The United States condemns in the strongest possible terms today’s horrific attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar, Pakistan. Our hearts and prayers go out to the victims, their families, and loved ones. By targeting students and teachers in this heinous attack, terrorists have once again shown their depravity. We stand with the people of Pakistan, and reiterate the commitment of the United States to support the Government of Pakistan in its efforts to combat terrorism and extremism and to promote peace and stability in the region.
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UPDATE: Video added.
UPDATE: No words...
"They literally set the teacher on fire with gasoline and made the kids watch." http://t.co/hVRyDsDZjc
— Caleb Howe (@CalebHowe) December 16, 2014UPDATE: The fatality figures have been revised. What monsters:
Pakistan army says 132 children and 9 staff killed in #PeshawarAttack, 7 militants dead http://t.co/JrPKIuwni4
— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) December 16, 2014
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