Pakistan's prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, has promised to rid his country of terrorism after a Taliban massacre at a school in Peshawar which killed 141 people, most of them children.
Gunmen went from class to class in the army-run school shooting the students in the Pakistani Taliban's deadliest attack to date.
The massacre left 132 students and nine teachers dead. Photo: AFP
Pakistan's army said it had launched massive air strikes at Taliban militants in the Khyber and North Waziristan areas.
Speaking at a meeting of all the main political parties in the city, Mr Sharif said the whole country was united to ensure the sacrifice of the children would not be wasted.
"We will not stop our jihad against terrorism.
"We should not forget what we saw yesterday as they shot our children, fired at their faces, murdered them
"What they did was the worst tragedy in the history of Pakistan."
Mr Sharif has declared three days of national mourning over Tuesday's attack.
"We...have resolved to continue the war against terrorism until the last terrorist is eliminated," he said.
Pakistani Taliban (TTP) leader Mullah Fazlullah is believed by the Pakistani authorities to be hiding in Afghanistan, and media reports in Pakistan suggest the school attack may have been co-ordinated from Afghanistan.
But the TTP said the attack had been masterminded by its military chief in the Peshawar region, who it said had been in touch with the gunmen throughout the assault.
A Pakistani soldier in the army-run school in Peshawar where 141 people were killed by Taliban militants. Photo: AFP
Gareth Price, a senior research fellow at UK independent policy institute Chatham House, told Morning Report the Taliban had been attempting to send a signal.
"The barbarity of the attack, if you like, was intended to say how tough they were and to get people in Pakistan to think again about the military response to them on the Pakistan side of the border.
"If that was the plan, it would seem to have backfired."
