Summary

  • Officials say more than 140 people, mostly children, have been killed in a Taliban attack on an army-run school in north-west Pakistan

  • Pakistan's security forces say their operation has now ended, with all seven attackers killed

  • Some pupils, who escaped, earlier said the gunmen went from classroom to classroom, shooting children indiscriminately

  • The Taliban say the assault is in response to army operations in North Waziristan and the Khyber area. All times GMT

Live Reporting

Yaroslav Lukov, Alastair Lawson, Kerry Alexandra, Julia Macfarlane, Sally Taft and Jasmine Coleman

  1. Shlipa Kannan, BBC News in Delhi

    tweets: - O Negative blood needed in CMH & LadyReading hosp in #Peshawar CMH saved #MalalaYousafzai - hopefully they save many more Malalas today!

  2. A Pakistani army spokesman says six suspected militants are dead and the operation against them is nearly over.

  3. Businesses to observe a day of mourning

    Businesses are to remain closed in Peshawar on Wednesday, and traders' associations across Pakistan have announced that they are to observe a day of mourning, the Express Tribune reports.

  4. Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi has told India's NDTV of his outrage at the attack. "I beg the Taliban, take me and leave these children," he is reported as saying.

  5. General Asim Bajwa, Pakistan Army Spokesperson

    tweets: "#Psr Update: Latest; 7 more male staff members and 4 lady teachers rescued by SSG. Closing up"

  6. Engr. Wajahat, social media coordinator, Pakistan People's Party

    tweets this picture of people gathering outside a blood bank in Peshawar to donate.

    People outside blood bank in Peshawar@wajahatullahkh7

  7. Analysis

    Owen Bennett-Jones
    BBC News

    says reports that accuse the gunmen of being foreign fighters should be treated with caution.

    "Whilst some Pakistanis accuse outside elements such as the Indian intelligence agencies or foreign fighters as being responsible for the attack, in fact, students at the school have said that the gunmen had Pashtu accents," he says.

    "Many Pakistanis are in denial about the fact that the Pakistani Taliban is an indigenous movement and that the violence in northern Pakistan is part a civil conflict."

  8. Malala 'heartbroken'

    Malala YousafzaiAFP

    Pakistani education activist Malala Yousafzai has released a statement:

    "I am heartbroken by this senseless and cold blooded act of terror in Peshawar that is unfolding before us. Innocent children in their school have no place in horror such as this. I condemn these atrocious and cowardly acts and stand united with the government and armed forces of Pakistan whose efforts so far to address this horrific event are commendable. I, along with millions of others around the world, mourn these children, my brothers and sisters - but we will never be defeated."

  9. To recap, officials say at least 126 people - mostly children - have been killed in a Taliban assault on an army-run school in the Pakistani city of Peshawar. Many more are injured. Pakistan's security forces are struggling to regain control of the school, hours after it was stormed by militants.

  10. Pakistani woman reacts as she arrives near the site of an attack by Taliban gunmen on a school in Peshawar on 16 December 2014AFP

    The attack in Peshawar is being seen as the worst in Pakistan in recent times.

  11. Get in touch

    Aimal Wagas in Rawalpindi, Pakistan emails: "I am a Pakistani student. I am 13 years old. Please help us. Taking innocent lives is not just a little thing. Please can you just spread the message that we are innocent, we don't want any of this."

  12. Asim Bajwa, Pakistani military communications

    tweets: #Psr Update:2 more children,2 teachers rescued.6th terrorist killed in last block.IEDs planted by terrorists hamper speed of clearance

  13. Syed Talat Hussain, Saach TV journalist

    tweets: The terrorists, as I had reported earlier, came to kill and be killed. This makes rescuing those trapped hugely challenging, says a source.

  14. The Express Tribune newspaper in Pakistan is reporting sounds of explosions and firing continuing in the area around the school, as more security personnel arrive to take part in the operation against the militants.

  15. Home Department KPK, regional government, Pakistan

    tweets: One of the students of #ArmyPublicSchool says that the terrorists had foreign accent and were talking in Arabic.

  16. Get in touch

    Shahid Khan in Pakistan emails: "We Pakistanis are the most affected from terrorist attacks. For more than 10 years there are attacks on mosques, shopping malls, on hotels. God help us, it's really sad day for me."

  17. Francois Hollande, President of France

    Francois Hollande, tweets: I strongly condemn the despicable attack against a school in Peshawar this morning that caused the deaths of more than 80 children

  18. PM calls for conference

    PM Nawaz Sharif has called for all parties to hold a conference in Peshawar on Tuesday following the attack, according to the newspaper Dawn.

  19. Get in touch

    @MianFarhanRaza tweeted this picture from the Combined Military Hospital in Peshawar as many people gather and queue to give blood.

    People gather outside the blood bank@MianFarhanRaza