Death Toll in Pakistani School Attack Rises to 126

PESHAWAR, Pakistan(AP) — A Pakistani official says the death toll in a Taliban attack on a school in the northwestern city of Peshawar has risen to 126.

The information minister for the province, Mushtaq Ghani, says most of the dead in Tuesday's attack were students, children and teenagers, from the school.

The still-unfolding violence began in the morning hours, with about half a dozen gunmen entering the school. Two loud booms of unknown origin were heard coming from the scene in the early afternoon, as Pakistani troops exchanged fire with the attackers.

The Pakistani Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attack, the country's worst in more than a year.

(Story by: Riaz Khan, The Associated Press)