Pakistan mourns following Taliban school shooting

Pakistani mourners surrounded coffins and staged candle vigils in the aftermath of Tuesday’s school massacre in Peshawar, Pakistan.

Taliban gunmen had entered a school and walked from class to class shooting students and teachers in the Pakistani Taliban's deadliest attack to date.

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has declared three days of national mourning over the massacre and world leaders, including the Afghan Taliban, have also voiced disgust at the attack.

Also on Tuesday, Pakistan's army said it launched air strikes at Taliban militants in the Khyber and North Waziristan areas. It is not yet clear whether these attacks were a direct response to the school attack. A Pakistani offensive against the militants has been ongoing since June.

Sharif also convened a meeting of all parliamentary parties in Peshawar to discuss how to respond to the tragedy.

“The meeting was called to show that the whole nation stood against extremism,” Pakistani Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid told reporters.

According to the army, seven Taliban attackers, all wearing bomb vests, took part in Tuesday's attack.

They entered the school from the rear after cutting through a wire fence. Their first target was an auditorium where children were taking an exam. From there, survivors said that the gunmen went from room to room at, shooting pupils and teachers where they found them.

The siege at Peshawar's Army Public School, that teaches children from both military and civilian backgrounds, lasted around eight hours.

The attack left at least 141 people, including 132 children dead. 125 people were also wounded, according to the Pakistani army, before all the gunmen were killed. The Pakistani Taliban said that this attack was carried out in response to the army’s campaign against them. They said that they had chosen a school as their target for revenge because their families had also suffered heavy losses.