Live updates: More than 130 killed in Pakistan school attack

15:36 CET: US President Barack Obama condemns attack. "By targeting students and teachers in this heinous attack, terrorists have once again shown their depravity," a statement from the White House says.

14:44:CET: The school attack has ended, military says. News agency AFP quotes police official Abdullah Khan: "The combat operation is over, the security personnel are carrying out clearance operation and hopefully they will clear the building in a while."

14:33 CET: Security forces' operation to liberate school from the militants reaches its last stages, say television reports from Pakistan.

14:05 CET: United States condemns the "senseless and inhumane attacks on innocent students and educators, and stands in solidarity with the people of Pakistan, and all who fight the menace of terrorism," US Ambassador to Pakistan Richard Olson says in a statement.

14:05 CET: Blood is urgently needed for attack victims lying wounded in Peshawar's Lady Reading hospital, citizens say.

13:53 CET: At least 130 people have been killed in the hostage crisis, according to Pervaiz Khattak, chief minister of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of which Peshawar is the capital.

13:45 CET: Pakistan Army spokesperson, General Asim Bajwa, says soldiers have rescued eleven more staff members.

13:30 CET: Pakistan's Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai says she is "broken" by this act of terror in Peshawar. "I am heartbroken by this senseless and cold blooded act of terror in Peshawar that is unfolding before us. Innocent children in their school have no place in horror such as this. I condemn these atrocious and cowardly acts and stand united with the government and armed forces of Pakistan whose efforts so far to address this horrific event are commendable," she says, according to the Associated Press.

13:20 CET: Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif says his army will continue the strikes against terrorists in the northwest. "The fight will continue. No one should have any doubt about it," the Associated Press quotes Sharif as saying.

13:17 CET: Germany condemns the attack, calling it "cruel cowardice." Foreign minister Frank Walter Steinmeier says : "We mourn with the people of Pakistan, the victims of this bloody terrorist attack. Our heart goes out to the families of the victims."

13:15 CET: Pakistani army spokesman General Asim Bajwa says the sixth militant has been killed, but that explosives planted by terrorists are hindering the soldiers' operations.

13:00 CET: Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif declares a three-day mourning

12:32 CET: French President Francois Hollande describes the school carnage as a "vile" attack. "No words can express the ignominy of such an attack against children in their school," Hollande says, in a statement reported by the AFP news agency.

12:31 CET: Pakistani officials say more than 126 have been killed in the attack.

12:08 CET: A spokesman for the Pakistani army, General Asim Bajwa, tweets that one more terrorist has been killed, bringing the total count of dead militants to five.

12:00 CET: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the attack in a statement on Twitter.

The attack took place on Tuesday morning.

The Pakistani Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack, saying they are avenging themselves for the army's offensive in the country's northwest.

Taliban spokesman Muhammad Umar Khorasani told Reuters news agency: "Our suicide bombers have entered the school. They have instructions not to harm the children, but to target army personnel."

Pervaiz Khattak, Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, said that an army operation was underway to counter the attack and that "intense gun fighting" was taking place inside the school.

mg/jr (AFP, Reuters, dpa, AP)