Nobel prize winner Malala Yousafzai 'heartbroken' by Pakistan school attack

Pakistani teenager Malala Yousafzai, joint winner of this year's Nobel peace prize for her education campaign work, said she was heartbroken by the news that at least 126 people, mostly children, had been killed in a Taliban attack on a school in northwest Pakistan on Tuesday.

Malala, 17, was shot in the head on a school bus by the Taliban in 2012 and won global acclaim for her passionate advocacy of women's right to education. "I am heartbroken by this senseless and cold-blooded act of terror in Peshawar that is unfolding before us," Malala, who now lives in central England, said in a statement.

"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."

A Taliban spokesman said the hardline Islamist movement was responsible for Tuesday's attack when gunmen stormed the school in Peshawar, saying it was in response to a major army operation against the insurgents in the tribal areas. "I, along with millions of others around the world, mourn these children, my brothers and sisters - but we will never be defeated," Malala said.