Pakistan Taliban kill 100 in assault on Peshawar school
Pakistani troops have been helping evacuate children from the school
At least 100 people, 80 of them children, have been killed in a Taliban assault on an army-run school in Peshawar, Pakistani officials say.
Five or six militants wearing security uniforms entered the school, officials said. Gunfire and explosions were heard as security forces surrounded the area.
The army says most of the school's 500 students have been evacuated. It is not clear how many are being held hostage.
A Taliban spokesman says the assault is in response to army operations.
Hundreds of Taliban fighters are thought to have died in a recent military offensive in North Waziristan and the nearby Khyber area.
A school worker and a student interviewed by the local Geo TV station said the attackers had entered the Army Public School's auditorium, where a military team was conducting first-aid training for students.
Troops have sealed off the area around the school
Mudassir Awan, a worker at the school, said he saw six or seven attackers.
"As soon as the firing started, we ran to our classrooms," he said. "They were entering every class and they were killing the children."
Locals said they also said they heard screams of students and teachers. It's unclear excatly how Taliban militants got into the military-run facility.
Ambulances have been carrying the injured to a nearby hospital. A helicopter is also in the area.
The dead are said to include teachers, as well as a paramilitary soldier.
The attack started at 10 am local time (0500 GMT).
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