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Turkey: Day of mourning for Pakistan school massacre

16 December 2014 20:14 (UTC +04:00)

Ahmet Davutoglu declared that Wednesday would be a national day of mourning after the attack by Taliban militants on a school in Peshawar.

"I offer my condolences to Pakistan and harshly condemn the attack," Davutoglu said in press conference with the visiting Chad Prime Minister Kalzeubet Pahimi Deubet in Ankara.

Davutoglu said that he was planning to talk with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif over the deadly attack.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry also condemned the attack and offered its condolences to the victims' families.

"We strongly condemn this terror attack that targeted the peace, security and domestic stability of Pakistan," said a statement released by the ministry earlier Tuesday.

A group of gunmen attacked Tuesday a school, killing 141 people -- 132 students and nine staff members -- in one of the deadliest attacks the country has seen in its 66-year history, according to a Pakistani army spokesman. All seven attackers have also been killed.

The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan militant coalition claimed responsibility for the attack, calling it a response to the Pakistani army's anti-militant operations in the North Waziristan tribal area, which began on June 15.