There has been a push recently by mainstream political parties to negotiate with the Pakistani Taliban. Some, including opposition leader Imran Khan, have criticized the government for moving too slowly. Today's events may change the conversation.
Newsweek correspondent in Afghanistan and Pakistan (TTP refers to the Pakistani Taliban):
Pervez Khattak, the chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkwa province, in a statement to media in Urdu:
"Today, around 10 or 10:30 am, around 8 to 10 terrorists entered the Army Public School and College and started indiscriminate firing. Now, some more than 100 children have been killed and some 80 have been injured. Emergency has been imposed in all hospitals of the city."
Here's an update from RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal. Earlier estimates had put the death toll at 18.
A senior official says 104 people, including 84 children, have been killed in a militant attack on a school in Peshawar, Pakistan.
The chief minister of the province where Peshawar is located, Pervez Khattak, spoke to media hours after gunmen entered the Army Public School and gunfire and explosions were heard.
"In CMH (Combined Military Hospital) there are around 60 and there are 24 dead in Lady Reading (hospital)," Khattak told local television channels, referring to children.
He said the number of children wounded was about the same as the death toll.
Government and hospital officials had earlier put the death toll at about 20 but said it was likely to rise.