Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai said Tuesday that she is “heartbroken” about the attack on a military school in Pakistan that has claimed about 140 lives, including many students.
Ms. Yousafzai said that she and millions of others throughout the world mourn the lives of the children who died in the Taliban assault on the school in Peshawar.
“Innocent children in their school have no place in horror such as this,” she said. “I condemn these atrocious and cowardly acts.”
Ms. Yousafzai is herself the survivor of a Taliban attempt to silence her. In a bid to prevent her from lobbying for a girl’s right to education, a Taliban gunman shot her in the head at close range in Pakistan two years ago.
Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi termed the killing of the students as “one of the darkest days of humanity” and offered himself to the terrorists if they were ready to free the children taken hostage. US President Barack Obama condemned the deadly raid on the school and promised that America would stand by the country in its struggle against violent extremism.
“By targeting students and teachers in this heinous attack, terrorists have once again shown their depravity,” he said. “Strongly condemning the attack, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said, “It is an act of horror and rank cowardice to attack defenceless children while they learn,” he said at the start of a UN Security Council meeting.
