At least 141 dead, mainly children, in Pakistan's worst ever terror act

Taliban insurgents have killed at least 141 people, most of them children, after storming an army-run school in Pakistan's deadliest ever terror attack.

Chief military spokesman General Asim Bajwa said 132 students and nine staff were killed in Tuesday's eight-hour onslaught at the army-run school in the northwestern city of Peshawar.

Witnesses described how a huge blast shook the Army Public School and six gunmen in government paramilitary uniforms went from classroom to classroom shooting children, some as young as 12.

The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the assault, calling it revenge for a major military offensive in the region.

A teenage survivor described how he played dead to escape the militants as they rampaged through the school, hunting for people to kill.

Shahrukh Khan, 16, said he and his classmates ducked below their desks when four gunmen burst into their room.

"I saw a pair of big black boots coming towards me. This guy was probably hunting for students hiding beneath the benches," Khan told AFP from the trauma ward of the city's Lady Reading Hospital

Khan decided to play dead after being shot in both legs, stuffing his tie into his mouth to stifle his screams.

"The man with big boots kept on looking for students and pumping bullets into their bodies. I lay as still as I could and closed my eyes, waiting to get shot again," he said.

The Lady Reading Hospital was thronged with distraught parents weeping uncontrollably as children's bodies arrived, their school uniforms drenched in blood.

Irshadah Bibi, 40, whose 12-year-old son was among the dead, beat her face in grief, throwing herself against an ambulance.

Police officials said the attack ended around 6.30pm local time, some eight hours after it began, with all six militants dead.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif described the attack as a "national tragedy unleashed by savages".

"These were my children. This is my loss. This is the nation's loss," he said.

Nobel peace laureate Malala Yousafzai, herself shot by the Taliban in 2012, said she was "heartbroken" by "the senseless and cold-blooded" killing.

US President Barack Obama condemned the attack as "heinous" and said America will stand by Pakistan in its struggle against violent extremism.

TTP spokesman Muhammad Khorasani said Tuesday's assault was carried out to avenge Taliban fighters and their families killed in the army's offensive against militant strongholds in North Waziristan.