Saddened and shattered by Pakistan school attack: Mamata Banerjee

KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today said she is saddened by the killing of children and teachers by the Taliban suicide bombers in a Pakistan school.

"We are all saddened and shattered. The attack on innocent children in Peshawar is a big tragedy," Banerjee said at a programme here.

In the bloodiest terror attack in Pakistan in years, nearly 160 people, including at least 124 children, were killed by heavily-armed Taliban suicide bombers who stormed the army-run school and took several hostages, a throwback to the 2004 Beslan school siege by Chechen rebels.

A group of eight Arabic-speaking attackers, wearing para- military Frontier Corps uniforms, entered the Army Public School on Warsak Road around 10.30 AM (local time) and started the massacre of innocents, spraying bullets indiscriminately, going from classroom-to-classroom.