A massacre carried out by the Taliban at a school in northern Pakistan has left approximately 130 pupils and teachers dead.

The attack at a military-run school in Peshawar has been described as one of the worst in the country's history.

Militants were said to have approached the school in military fatigues and were reported to have detonated several suicide vests before indiscriminately shooting children and adults.

There has been widespread criticism of the attack - British prime minister David Cameron called it "horrifying" and "deeply shocking", teenage activist Malala Yousafzai said she was "heartbroken" and the Pakistani prime minister called the attack a "national tragedy".

In fact, the massacre, which was said to be in retaliation to anti-Taliban military offensives, was even condemned by other Islamist militant groups.

"This was carried out by the enemies of Islam. It is open terrorism,” said Hafiz Saeed, the leader of Lashkar-e-Taiba, the group which is said to have carried out the terrorist attacks on Mumbai in 2008. “These are barbarians operating under the name of jihad,” he told the Wall Street Journal.