this is bbc america, and now live from london, "bbc world news." >> hello, i'm geeta guru-murthy. >> i'm lucy hockings with "bbc world news." our top stories. 126 people have been killed. most of them children, as taliban militants attack a school. >> parents wait anxiously as the army battles to secure the school. pakistan's prime minister alsharif calls the massacre a national tragedy. >> around six militants were seen entering the school. a spokesman says the assault is in response to pakistan's military operations.

hello, and welcome to our special coverage today with events in pakistan dominating our news. taliban gunmen have attacked a school in northwest pakistan, killing 126 people, most children. >> al-sharif has called it a national tragedy. five or six gunned men opened fire and exploded a large bomb. >> in the last hour, we've been getting reports of explosions and gunfire being heard and that four of the attackers have been killed. the search is continuing for the remaining gunmen. let's get the latest. sharma khalil is on her way there. what are you hearing now?

>> reporter: we are hearing of the explosions you just mentioned. we're getting reports that some of the children are still at the school. we heard earlier from the military that a security operation was under way and that many of the children and some of the teachers have been evacua evacuated. if some of them are still inside the school. as you were saying earlier, some very anxious parents were looking for their children, wanting to know of their fate, and -- to hospitals. we've heard many calls from

local hospitals. >> shaimaa, i'm sorry, we've lost the line there to shaimaa. we're just hearing quite a lot of testimony that are coming in to us. this horrific attack. one parent saying my son was in uniform this morning, he's in a casket now. that's as he came to collect the body of his 14-year-old son. my son was my dream, my dream has been killed. the words of just one parent of many who are having a terrible time trying to find their children and finding that many of them have been shot dead in school. i spoke to a doctor who was treating the wounded at lady redding high school. he described the injuries. >> most of them are head injuries. in the chest. really differently for us.

most of the students w s had mae trauma to the head because of the bomb blast. >> so you believe some were killed by a bomb as well as those who were shot? >> yes. later on, a further attack on the students. there were plenty on the playground. >> and is it your understanding that many of the students therefore who have been shot, have been fired at in the head? >> yes. shot in the head and chest. most of them were brought dead.

later on, the bomb blast deteriorated the condition. >> i understand that there is an appeal for blood donations because this is a huge number of people to have to treat quickly for peshawar's hospitals. >> yes. they came and gave their blood. >> have you been treating patients yourself? >> yeah, we are here since morning. >> can you tell me from a personal viewpoint how difficult it must be to see young people attacked like this? >> it was really bad.

have seen many bomb blasts for the last six or seven years, but unfortunately this was of the incidents for ten to 15 and 20 years. high school students. in bad condition. really it was unbearable. >> one of the doctors treating patients in this attack. let's get more now from the bbc's shaimaa khalil, who's en route to peshawar. we lost the line there. can you just take us back and update us on what we know about the start of this attack? what happened? >> reporter: well, we do know that at about 10:00 in the morning, local time, 5:00 gmt, gunmen managed to get into the

army public school, the military facility in peshawar. it's on a main road. they were there, they were wearing military uniforms. reports say. and they were armed. there are reports that they started firing. gunfire was being heard as well as a couple of explosions and locals tell us that they also heard screams from children and teachers there. this is a big school. about 500 students go to this school. aging from grade 1 to 10, so it's a big facility, and, you know, it's still to be -- because of the situation, i'm sure there are many questions as to how these militants were able to infiltrate such a big campus. supposedly well-secured, and carry out this attack. there is a security operation going on, a rescue mission going on. some of the children, many of

the children have been taken out of the school to local hospitals, but many are still reported to be inside the school. we still don't know how many gunmen are also inside the school with the children. >> does this feel like a big departure in tactics for the taliban, to attack a school, relatively small number of gunmen, killing so many young people? >> exactly. i think the remarkable thing, the major thing here is the number of children that have been killed here. we're hearing more than 100. most of these are school children. peshawar has seen its fair share of attacks, taliban militant attacks, but this is another level of horror really, at children who are honor mall school day, who are in their classrooms and basically being killed by taliban gunmen. but again, geeta, we have to take it into context. this comes as either the major military operation against the

pakistani taliban is still ongoing in northwest waziristan. many analysts have been saying and asking whether the taliban were ever going to be able to regroup and what their next strike is going to be. >> is this going to affect the government operation in those tribal areas? because pakistan has a very complex relationship with the taliban. parts of the taliban still funded and supported by the isi, but the pakistani taliban a different grouping. >> reporter: it is a very complex relationship, but the army has made it very, very clear. that was before this attack, that they were going after each and every militant if this area and no one will be spared. they've made that very clear in different statements, on different occasions. but also, if you hear the statements from the leadership

today, the prime minister al-sharif has condemned the attack. he said those responsible will be held accountable. so it's really hard to say how this is beginning to affect it. i think they're quite adamant how they're going about the military operation and if anything they'll want to prove it's still ongoing and they're not fazed by this kind of attack. >> shaimaa khalil, thanks very much indeed. >> we can now take you live to peshawar and take you to someone who is outside the school, has also been at the hospital. can you just tell us what you can see at the moment and what is happening? >> thank you. there's still one block. just a little while ago, we talked to the authorities and

report eed 126 dead bodies so f. the exact number are still not known. you can just hear the blast going on. so there's still going on inside the school. they are ready to serve. but the situation is very critical. nobody knows what is happening. how many students are still inside. so that is the situation so far. >> it's obviously critical there that the hospitals coach with the flood of injured and people are coming in. have you got enough supplies in the hospitals, enough blood. have you got enough people to care for the injured people? >> yes, actually.

along with our team, along with our blood donor volunteers, along with the doctors, volunteers, it seems that they are at the moment capable of handling this situation. so they don't need any blood donation. >> and what is being done -- i was just going to ask what is being done to help the parents? we understand many distraught parents have gathered outside the school desperate for their children. >> there's a large crowd outside the school waiting for their near and dear ones. we have witnessed so many of the parents who recently got news about their children. and a hundred or so people actually waiting outside. just to know what is actually happening. so it's quite a -- it's not very clear, actually, to anyone what

number of students are still inside. it's still not clear. >> can you give us a sense of how you're feeling today after what you've seen and what you're experiencing at the moment and the pain of those parents, of course. >> well, of course, it's very, very much painful. because looking at the school children. one cannot explain actually the feeling. it's really, really painful. the children and other citizens, they are equally in pain. there is so much upset. the situation is not very clear. especially for those children who are still stuck. >> thank you very much for joining us. just to bring you one comment that we've been hearing from

tahrir, who is a parent, he said my son was in uniform in the morning, he is in a casket now. my son was my dream. my dream has been killed. so some truly horrific reports coming in of just how distraught parents are and some of the reaction coming in after we now know that possibly more than 100 children have been killed. we are going to take you now to karachi. we're getting a lot of information on social media, a lot of response on social media. do we have any information in terms of whether the school has been secured as yet or not? >> in the past few minutes, we've got an update from pakistani army, and they're saying they've killed the fifth attacker. we know from earlier on that three of the attackers were shot dead by pakistani army, which is currently surrounding the school premises.

fourth attacker blew himself up. and now they're saying they killed the fifth attacker. so five of these gunmen are now dead. in terms of what damage they caused and the lives lost, the government is seeing 125 people killed in this taliban attack. most of them children. >> we're also hearing from rioters. they're reporting that special forces just rescued two children and two staff members at the school. still people inside trapped and hiding. we've heard eyewitness reports that they tried to hide in classrooms, tried to hide under the desk, but the gunman came and shot them in the head and the legs. so a very deliberate targeting. >> that's right. initially when this story broke about four hours ago or five hours ago, people thought maybe this was a hostage situation. but these gunmen have begun into

the school and they would come out with demands and so on. but it became pretty clear very soon that all they wanted was to kill. they wanted a blood bath there. and they started shooting inside classrooms. there were explosions. so they came there because they saw the school as a soft target. it is an army-run school. so their logic could be that they were targeting children of army officials, even though civilians also send their children to an army school. many of them were really excited about winter holidays coming up. we are getting reports that there was actually a get-together of year nine and year ten students in an auditorium where they were attending a course. possibly a first aid course, and

that's when this happened. so many of the details of what transpired inside the school are still sketchy. but we're getting more details. we'll get more details as the search operation gets over. >> we're hearing actually in an interview, major general abbas said the guards were at the front and the terrorists came in a suzuki van, one exploded a grenade in front of the school to divert the attention of the grds and the school administration, everyone rushed towards that explosion and that provided the opportunity for the terrorists to enter from the rear. that is from the major general, a former spokesman for the pakistan military. obviously a very well-planned attack. the question that people are going to say is what exactly are they trying to achieve? is it to stop these attacks by the gunmen in the tribal areas? >> well, that's what they said.

a spokesperson of the pakistani taliban called earlier in the day and he said his organization has ordered this attack and they are doing it as a retaliation against the pakistani military's operation in north waziristan. this operation was launched in june earlier this year. it displaced a lot of people, local people, families who had to move out of north waziristan. this is a region where the west has long asked pakistan to conduct an operation because it's seen as a safe haven and that's where many of these militants were hiding and going into afghanistan to carry out attacks against nato. so this was a long-standing demand. pakistan wasn't keen on the action because it was afraid of the blowback. but under the current army chief, the decision was made and they went in and declared major towns and cities in north waziristan in the last few

months. they were always on the edge about possible retaliation. there wasn't much seen in the last few months. and then this happened. so the pakistani army chief and the prime minister will be in peshawar. the prime minister is already there. and they will seek to reassure the country that this is a fight they have to take to its logical end. the government cannot be pushed to withdraw from its offensive against taliban militants, but it is a fight where innocent lives have been lost and they continue to be lost. >> thanks very much indeed for that update. >> update you with the very latest that we are hearing from the school in peshawar. the fifth attacker has just been killed. we had been getting reports that there was an attacker still alive in the school, and also reports -- i was just speaking to someone from the red crescent saying he could hear loud explosions and gunfire as well.

a fifth attacker has been killed. three initially were killed. one man blew himself up and now this fifth attacker is dead, but local officials are now saying the death toll has risen. at least 126 people have died. most of them children in this horrific attack. the prime minister is on his way. he says the nation is in shock. >> this is "bbc world news." we have much more to come on the ongoing situation in pakistan, where taliban militants are still occupying a school in the city of peshawar. we believe five of them have been killed, but we know that five or six militants initially entered that school. at least 126 people have been killed. give you 37-thousand to replace it. "depreciation" they claim. "how can my car depreciate before it's first oil change?" you ask. maybe the better question is,

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this is "bbc world news." let's get the latest headlines.

126 people have been killed. most of them children as taliban militants attack a school in the pakistani city of peshawar. >> as authorities move to secure the school, pakistan's prime minister nawaz sharif calls the massacre a national tragedy. >> you've been hearing a bit more about who the attackers are in this school. >> well, still nothing has been confirmed officially, but some of the reporters who have spoken to the surviving children from army public school, those children have told the reporters that they were speaking to each other in pashto, and a couple of the attackers were clean-shaven. so it seems that the earlier reports which were coming in in pakistani media that they might be arabs were clearly not true. >> tens of thousands of pakistanis have been killed in these past years in militant

attacks, but can you give us a sense of just how horrified people are right now that children have been attacked in peshawar? >> i think if you say that one thing the whole nation is united is condemnation of this attack and mourning of this tragedy. so far, there's been, as you said, thousands of people. more than 50,000 people have been killed in pakistan, but nothing compares to this scale of butchery against the innocent children who probably dressed up in their uniforms in the morning, giving last kisses to their parents and going to their school and coming back in coffins, as someone suggested, that his dream has killed. so there's no way you can describe in words how the families must be feeling at this time. >> do you think this is going to shake confidence in what the government is doing? because the link with the

taliban, you know, funded and supported in some parts to work if afghanistan and some people say destabilize india or so. but at other parts, taliban very much victimizing pakistan. opinion presumably very divided. >> i think the opinions are divided, but gradually, as the scale of the brutalities of the taliban against pakistanis and their fellow muslims have increased during last ten, 15 years. the opinion against the taliban and any connections, if there were by some sections of security agencies with taliban have weakened. and gradually, the opinion against taliban and militancy, and in favor of pakistan army's operations increasing. and there are some political parties who have been advocating, talking to taliban. apparently they are also back pedaling on their demands to talk to taliban. >> thank you so much for joining us. just to quickly remind you of

what we are hearing from peshawar, explosions and gunfire are still being reported at the school. we now know that the death toll stands at about 126. >> that's it from us. we're back in five minutes. stay with us. this is "bbc world news." ♪ ♪ wellllll... ♪ earlyfit ♪ latefit ♪ risefit ♪ fallfit ♪ ballfit ♪ wallfit ♪ pingfit ♪ pongfit ♪ pingfit ♪ pongfit ♪ rowfit ♪ throwfit ♪ slowfit ♪ olliefit ♪ oopsfit ♪ otisfit ♪ thiswayfit ♪ thatwayfit ♪ daddyfit ♪ pappyfit ♪ datefit ♪ weightfit ♪ goalfit ♪ gooooooalfit ♪ stepfit ♪ stairfit ♪ smartfit ♪ heartfit ♪ spinfit ♪ bikefit ♪ hikefit ♪ yikesfit ♪ wheeeeefit ♪ wowfit ♪ whoafit ♪ findyourfit ♪ it's all fitbit

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this is "bbc world news." 126 people have been killed. most of them children. as taliban militants attack a school in the pakistani city of peshawar. >> parents wait anxiously as the army battles to secure the school. pakistan's prime minister nawaz sharif calls the massacre a national tragedy. >> around six militants were seen entering the school. a taliban spokesman says the assault is in response to

pakistan's military operations. hello. welcome to our special coverage today of events in pakistan, where taliban gunmen have attacked an army-run school in peshawar in northwest pakistan, killing 126 people, most of them children. >> the pakistani prime minister nawaz sharif has called it a national tragedy. eyewitnesss say the attack began when five or six armed men scaled the school walls and opened fire and exploded a large bomb. we've been getting reports of explosions and gunfire currently being heard in the area. five of the attackers have been killed. with the very latest, this report from paul adams. >> reporter: pakistani troops rushing to contain the

situation, but apparently too late to stop a massacre. taliban gunmen wearing uniforms burst into the school in the morning. army commandos arrive soon afterwards. this man is an assistant in the physics lab. he says when the shooting started, everyone ran for their classrooms. he saw six or seven attackers entering every class and beating the children. the military said a rescue operation was under way and that most of the students and staff had been evacuated. but as the day wore on, news of an appalling death toll started to emerge. injured students and staff have been arriving at a local hospital, many with gunshot injuries. they spoke of panic in the school, of children falling and screaming. amir had just finished a chemistry exam. he was sitting in the lab when the firing started.

he said gunmen came in and opened fire on the students. he said they killed a 2-year-old, who just happened to be there. a taliban spokesman told the reuters news agency his group had chosen the army school because the government was targeting taliban families. revenge, it seems, for an army offensive in north waziristan that began in the summer. he want them, he said, to feel our pain. paul adams, bbc news. >> the bbc is in karachi for us. just bring us up to date. we've heard that possibly a fifth gunman now has been killed. >> that's right. killed a fifth gunmen. earlier they talked about shooting three of them. fourth one apparently blew himself up. so clearly they were on a suicide mission. they were wearing suicide vests. but the search operation is not

over yet, because earlier reports suggested there were six taliban gunmen wearing army uniform. they climbed the back wall of a school building and went on a rampage. >> the eyewitness reports we've been getting have been absolutely horrific. one father said he sent his son to school in uniform, he was going to pick him up in a coffin. the way the gunmen were targeting children who were hiding under their desks. >> absolutely. i mean, it's shock and horror across pakistan over this tragedy. even though this country has seen so much violence in the last decade or so. but the selection of the target, the scale of the attack is just unbelievable. i mean, imagine the horror, what parents are going through as they stand outside hospitals not

sure whether their child has been wounded or is dead. so there are heart-wrenching scenes in peshawar, but the pain can be felt across the country. maybe not just in pakistan, but even around the world. anybody who drops their child at school in the morning and has to deal with this. it's really unbelievable. >> but we believe that this is still ongoing, because in the last half an hour or so, we've heard that two children have been rescued. do we know exactly who might still be trapped in there. how many people are still missing. >> earlier reports suggested there were about 500 students there, but we're also hearing there might be more. the army was saying that it has managed to rescue most of the children and staff. some still might be there. when this whole thing started about six hours ago, people suspected that this was maybe a hostage situation. these gunmen will make demands and so on. but they didn't. they wept and they started

killing people because they wanted a blood bath. so it's pretty clear that they didn't want to take any hostages for any negotiation. they just wanted to kill as many children as possible. and that's what apparently they have succeeded in doing. >> one eyewitness saying we ducked under the tables and chairs but they shot at our heads and legs. they kept firing. they kept coming further inside the room, they shot at anyone who moved. we continued to hide. this is going to cause absolute shock, suspect it, but will it question the government's policies still of targeting the pakistani taliban in those tribal areas? >> i'm sure there are people who believe the prime minister nawaz sharif wasted a lot of time in urging dialogue and negotiation with these militants, and this was his policy when he came into the government last year. but it was earlier this year that the new army chief took a decision and he said we have to

go in and we have to use force. and that's what they did in june. declared major cities in north waziristan. lots of people were displaced. families forced to go and live in tents and other locations in the northwest province. so the army has decided that these people have to be dealt with first, because how do you talk to these people who want to kill children? and today, i think the prime minister will seek to reassure the country. he will share grief with the parents who are suffering today. but he will reassure the country that they have to go all the way. the army chief was also on his way to peshawar. it will be more interesting to see what he has to say and whether he is absolutely committed to fight these militants and to clear pakistan's tribal areas of these militants of taliban and al qaeda. >> just seeing some of the latest images coming to us from peshawar, a city that is used to attacks in the past.

and one detail that we're hearing is the security forces try to end the standoff, the operation is ongoing, almost all the schools have been cleared. only the principal room and another area where the attackers are. they were wearing military personnel uniforms, that is how they entered the compound. shazeb jillani, thanks very much indeed for the moment. you're watching "bbc world news." our breaking news is that at least 126 people have been killed in a taliban assault on an army-run school in the pakistani city of peshawar. we understand that most of them are believed to be children. we're going to get more reaction to this. we can speak to a woman, her friend's daughter was in the school when the attack happened. tell us exactly what happened.

>> i wasn't around. not that building. guns being fired. living in peshawar, you get the idea that something is up all the time. we got the word that there were some people in army uniforms. dressed up in the army uniforms. going into the classes. taking hostages. a chaotic situation. >> i understand that your friend's daughter was in the school at the time. what news of her at the moment? >> i'm sorry? >> what news of your friend's daughter? how is she? is she safe? >> she managed to escape, thankfully. it was in the boys section.

she was a block away from there and she managed to get out. there were gunshots being fired. so she pretended that she was dead. and then she managed to escape from the back door. >> we'll have to leave it there. we're getting a bit of breakup on our connection to you, but thank you very much for that. speaking to us live from peshawar. her friend's daughter thankfully managed to escape, as we were just hearing there. but as you can see, unprecedented scenes unfolding there on the city streets in peshawar. >> of course, the casualty numbers are very high. we're hearing around 122 injured with some very severe injuries. a little while ago, i spoke to a doctor who is treating some of the wounded at lady reading hospital. he described some of the injuries.

>> unfortunately today, a bad incident happened. a terrorist attack on the school. students to the age of 15. they were shot to death. currently, most of -- only 26 dead students were brought in to the hospital. >> how bad are the injuries of those who you are still trying to help? >> most of them are head injuries, in the chest.

very difficult for us. most of the students who were in really bad condition, a massive bleed, trauma to the head because of the bomb blast, which happened later on. >> so you believe that some were killed by a bomb as well as those who were shot? you have information that there was a bomb blast as well as gunfire, is that right? >> yeah. later on, a further attack on the students. plenty on the playground. >> and is it your understanding that many of the students

therefore who have been shot have been fired at in the head? >> yes. shot in the head and chest, and most of them were brought dead. later on, the bomb blast -- it is thought that more than half the students have been dead. >> i understand that there is an appeal for blood donations because this is a huge number of people to have to treat quickly for peshawar's hospitals. >> yes. they came to the hospital and donated their blood. >> and have you been treating

patients yourself? >> yeah. we are there since morning. >> can you just tell me from a personal viewpoint how difficult it must be to see young people attacked like this? >> it was very bad. we've seen many bomb blasts for the last six, seven years. but unfortunately, this was one of the incidents, for ten, 15, 20 years. all of the people were just in bad condition. they were trying. just in bad condition. so really it was unbearable. >> i'm sure it's very, very difficult. and i imagine all the families gathering at the hospitals as well, trying to find their sons

and daughters. >> yeah, still they are coming, trying to identify their children. still here in the hospital and people are coming in. most of the people do not have a patient here in the hospital. we don't know who is the affected. so everyone is coming and look for their children and relatives and they're crying. >> can you give us any ideas as to whether there is anything the hospitals and staff need? we know the prime minister is on his way to peshawar now. >> powerful medical staff,

especially the doctors, a. they are working with the hospital. such difficulty here for the medical staff. we know that people in this condition -- cancel their holidays and everyone wants to try and help these people. >> dr. hamidullah there, who is helping to treat patients in that hospital. lady reading hospital in peshawar. it's just gone quarter to 5:00 local time in the evening in peshawar. this operation to evacuate the school children is currently ongoing, as we understand.

the gunmen are still reported to be inside of the school at some eight hours now since the initial attack, killing 126 people as far as we know at the moment. the pakistani prime minister nawaz sharif has called this a national tragedy. also hearing reports that he has arrived in peshawar. getting lots of reaction on social media to this. taking to twitter to condemn the attack is the indian prime minister narendra modi, who said in a tweet, it is a senseless act of unspeakable brutality that has claimed the lives of the most innocent of human beings, young children in their school. he adds that, my heart goes out to everyone who lost their loved ones today. we share their pain and offer their deepest condolences. let's get more on how social media has been reporting this and the outpouring of condemnation. we can speak to the bbc's serena chowdri, monitoring pakistani media. bring us up to date with the latest on what you're hearing

and seeing on those social media sites. >> there's been an absolute outpouring of grief across the world. not just in pakistan. you've seen the #pakistan a and #paand and #peshawar attack. there's been an outpouring of grief. you mentioned narendra modi, but even someone like a cricketer, he's come out and said a sad, sad day. innocent children gunned down in pakistan. a barbaric act. and there's been other people who have also been looking at some of the other social media reaction that you've been seeing. and also what's being shown on local television stations in pakistan. there's been a lot of stations showing interviews with the children shortly after they were attacked. many of the injured being interviewed in hospitals. a lot of people saying they just can't bear to watch this television anymore, and why interview children who are in such traumatic conditions. >> also in a world of social media, lots of pictures coming

up from peshawar, of course, with many people taking to their mobile phones to report the incident. and nearby bystanders there using that as a facility to tell the world exactly what's happening, and indeed what's happening as we speak. >> yes. obviously in some aspects, it's very useful to have that kind of eyewitness news on the ground instantly. but again, there's been a lot of criticism as well because there hasn't been enough filtering and a lot of pictures of children traumatized and kind of very bad conditions, injured, heavily injured, and how do you then regulate that media? so there's been a lot of criticism. >> prime minister david cameron in the uk said the scenes unfolding were horrifying and the opposition leader ed miliband said it was appalling that school children should be targeted. unified response in condemnation there. also the young voice in pakistan in particular taking to social media. >> yes. there's been a mass i outpoive

outpouring of grief. there's also been a lot of people saying they stand in solidarity with the people of peshawar and that all pakistanis are united against these kind of attacks. >> the pictures that you're watching on your screen at the moment have come into us here in the bbc newsroom which are showing the aftermath of that school attack. these are the pictures that are coming in in the last few minutes, showing the scene outside of that school in peshawar. as you can see, a heavy police presence diverting the traffic. this is still an ongoing situation, with the whole area surrounding that school for a number of meters, completely cordoned off. we are still hearing the reports of gunfire and a military operation taking place. we are going to bring in now a conservative member of the british parliament, who served as a political adviser to the

former pakistan prime minister. thanks for joining us. first of all, your reaction to what's happened here today. >> well, this is very, very horrific and very tragic and my thoughts are with the people of pakistan at this very difficult time. and i think the international community now needs to stand with pakistan and support it in its fight against these terrorists. >> you say that, and yet the taliban was created at a time when bhutto was prime minister of pakistan. critics of the country say it was created with pakistan government backing support in order to destabilize india and afghanistan and exert influence and you cannot control a hydra once you have created it. >> i think you have to look into contact, in a sense where after 1989 when the international community won the wore against russia in the cold war, there was a vacuum that was left in afghanistan and that vacuum then led to the taliban, led to al qaeda after that. the international community

should have worked together to create a stable afghanistan, which is what's happening now. so bhutto's government at the time -- >> do you accept any responsibility, if you were working for benazir bhutto, for what politicians in pakistan did to help create the taliban in the first place? >> i think in every government, in every country around the world, you'd have to do what's in your national interest. the national interest was to have a stable afghanistan alongside a stable pakistan. and it was to fill that vacuum which was left after the defeat of the russians in afghanistan. and benazir bhutto's government tried to do her best by working with the army, with the other agencies in afghanistan to create and support a stable afghanistan alongside a stable and prosperous pakistan. but let me make it very clear, in terms of working with and having a compromise and having a situation where you can work with the taliban, has been tried. prime minister sharif in the last year and a half of his

government, alongside kahn has tried to have talks and discussions. but those talks and discussions have failed because the taliban will not come to any agreement. because their will is to have supremacy and jurisdiction over whole of pakistan. that is totally unacceptable. benazir tried it. sharif tried it. the president had to send the military in to defeat them. so the argument is very clear. pakistan has a choice to make now. it's tried to have an agreement with the taliban, but we've seen with this massacre and before the massacres the taliban do not want an agreement until they have full control of pakistan. that is unacceptable. because the only way you can have a successful, prosperous pakistan is through a democratic means where the will of the people of pakistan can be shown in the government they elect. >> what do you think, though, realistically the pakistan government should do now?

because it is accused of facing at least two ways, in terms of what it does with the americans, the cooperation or non-cooperation with drone attacks, supporting the afghan taliban to destabilize afghanistan, but not wanting the pakistani taliban and these children are the terrible victims of that policy that's been going on for years. >> well, let's be very clear. pakistan has been a front line state on the war on terror, completely. and as a result, pakistan itself has suffered. if you look at pakistan before, you know, the situation in afghanistan before 1989, you never had any massacres. you never had the pakistan in taliban. as a result of the taliban joining the international community in that war, first in afghanistan, it had to do it for its national interest, working with the international community was the right thing to do. then after 9/11, pakistan joined the international community. i accept, people can say there's been real concern about how effective the government was,

but i think where we are now is that the government of the president previously had tried to accommodate and work with the taliban, could not do it. they had to send in the military, and again, the government of nawaz sharif tried to come to an accommodation with the taliban. it did not work. because in the same province, the use with the nfp, there were still bombings going on, people were suffering. so when you ask me what is the option for the pakistani government, my view is very clear. they have to use every military aspect to defeat the taliban because the taliban will never accept anything other than their own jurisdiction. and that cannot be the case. that's not in pakistan's interest. pakistan people should be able to decide what they want, and when there are elections, these religious parties get very few votes. but what i would say in essence, prime minister sharif now needs to bring all the political parties together, and i think

imran kahn has to come on board. he's still the person now saying we should have a deal with the taliban. that cannot work. and this horrific incident has taken place in a province by imran kahn's own party. >> how worried are you now about the stability of pakistan? because many people have been warning for a long time about the future of this country. >> well, am i concerned about security in pakistan, of course i am. today we've seen very clearly the massacre that's been caused as a result of terrorists and extremists in pakistan. of course i'm concerned with that. but do i think the best way forward is to have a democratic pakistan where the will of the people of pakistan prevails and they can choose their government? absolutely. and now i think prime minister sharif has to bring all the political parties in together, and from what i know of pakistan, there can be no move towards negotiating with the taliban, the full force of the military and the government has to be used to defeat this evil organization. >> many thanks indeed for joining us. >> you're watching bbc news. our breaking news this hour,

that explosions and gunfire are currently being reported at a school in peshawar in northwest pakistan. which was earlier stormed by taliban militants. local officials there say 126 people have died. most of them children. >> one man said he dropped off his son in uniform, then wept back and picked him up in a coffin. this is "bbc world news." given new hope. during the subaru "share the love" event, subaru owners feel it, too. because when you take home a new subaru, we donate 250 dollars to helping those in need. we'll have given 50 million dollars over seven years. love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru.

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you're watching "gmt" on "bbc world news." i'm lucy hockings. our top story. a horrific attack on an army-run school in northern pakistan. the taliban kill at least 126 people, most of them children. eyewitnesss say five or six armed men scaled the walls at the school in peshawar and opened fire on pupils. security forces say they rescued many children trapped inside. fighting is continuing at the school. we're getting reports of explosions. five gunmen killed. the taliban says the attac