Nobel peace laureate Malala Yousafzai, who was shot in the head by the Taliban in 2012, says she’s heartbroken by “the senseless and cold blooded” killing of scores of children by Taliban militants in Pakistan.
At least 130 people, most of them children, were killed on Tuesday when gunmen stormed an army-run school in Pakistan’s northwestern city of Peshawar in an act that drew swift global condemnation.
“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,” Malala said in a statement.
“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.”
Malala also called for the international community to unite against terrorism.
“We stand with all those families and all those children who are injured right now and who are suffering through this big trauma,” she said.
“Now it is the time that we unite and I call upon the international community, leaders in Pakistan, all political parties and everyone that we should stand up together and fight against terrorism.”
Seventeen-year-old Malala, who now lives in Britain, became a global icon after she was shot and nearly killed by the Taliban in her native Pakistan in October 2012 for insisting that girls had a right to an education.
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for Tuesday’s attack as retaliation for a major military offensive in the region, saying militants had been ordered to shoot older students.
