Taliban Attack School in Pakistan

At least 20 people have been killed and 40 hurt in a Taliban assault on an army-run school in the Pakistani city of Peshawar, officials say, quoted by the international media.

Five or six militants wearing security uniforms entered the school, officials said. Gunfire and explosions were heard as security forces surrounded the area.

The army says most of the school's 500 students have been evacuated. It is not clear how many are being held hostage.

A spokesman for a faction of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack, saying the gunmen had been ordered to shoot older students but not children. The attack, according to him, was in response to army operations.

Currently the Pakistani military wages a major offensive against Taliban and other militants in the tribal area of North Waziristan.