Iran Strongly Condemns Peshawar Terrorist Attack
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s foreign ministry spokeswoman on Tuesday condemned in the strongest terms the terrorist attack on a school in the Pakistani city of Peshawar.
“This is a totally un-Islamic and inhumane action,” Marziyeh Afkham said, adding that terrorism, extremism and putting innocent people’s lives at risk in any form and with any purpose are reprehensible.
She also expressed sympathy with the government and nation of Pakistan, especially the bereaved families of victims.
Afkham further said cooperation among the regional countries and the world community is necessary in order to fight terrorism and extremism.
At least 130 people, most of them students as young as 12, were killed and at least 122 others injured on Tuesday in a Taliban seizure of a military-run school in Peshawar.
The numbers of dead and injured may still rise as the casualties of the assault are counted.
Some 500 students and teachers were in the Army Public School on Warsak Road at the time of the attack. Pakistan’s military said most of the civilians escaped, but some had been taken hostage by the assailants.
Several militants dressed in Pakistani military uniforms entered the school compound on Tuesday at around noon. They torched a car at the site and proceeded with a raid on the facility.
The Pakistani Army responded to the emergency, dispatching security forces to cordon off the area and sending military helicopters for surveillance. A commando force arrived at the site.
In the ensuing battle with Pakistani security forces, all six militants were killed, according to the military. One of them is said to have detonated a suicide vest he was wearing, according to local media.
