In Pakistan and beyond its borders, many are mourning the massive loss of life that was the result of a brutal attack on a school in Peshawar on Tuesday. In its devastating wake, social media users rallied under the #BlackDay hashtag as a sign of solidarity with the victims.
A Pakistani militant group called Tehreek-e-Taliban has claimed responsibility for the assault, in which gunman stormed into the military-run school and began shooting at random. It left at least 141 people dead, most of whom were children and teens. Asim Bajwa, a Pakistani military spokesman, said 132 children and nine staff members were killed.
By Tuesday evening, the school and the surrounding area had been cleared and the police operation, which left all seven attackers dead, was over, according to Bajwa. It was not immediately clear if the militants, who were wearing explosive vests, were killed by the soldiers or whether they blew themselves up, however. An additional 121 students and three staff members were being treated for wounds.
'Peshawar tragedy' has shattered whole humanity.. Words can't do justice to immense grief and sorrow. #blackday #PeshawarAttack— Rani Mukherjee (@iamRaniMukherji) December 16, 2014
Bajwa described an assault that seemed designed purely to terrorize the children rather than take anyone hostage to further the militant group's aims.
"Their sole purpose, it seems, was to kill those innocent kids. That's what they did," he said.
Pakistan's Express Tribune newspaper changed its website to grayscale in the aftermath of the attack, and many social media users were changing their profiles images to black or messages of their grief over a black background.
#PeshawarSchoolMassacre Pakistani newspaper Express Tribune changes its website to black/white as sign of mourning: http://t.co/HsRxGJY6X7— Harald Doornbos (@HaraldDoornbos) December 16, 2014
The smallest coffins are the heaviest. 132 kids killed. #PeshawarAttack pic.twitter.com/HDUhWxhEdW via @hirahaq #PakistanBleedsLikeNeverBefore— Ali Salman Alvi (@alisalmanalvi) December 16, 2014
Candlelight vigils were held across the country on Tuesday night.
Candle vigil for victims of Peshawar school attack at F-9 Park by students of Islamabad right now. pic.twitter.com/vmCkjeDM71— Usama Khilji (@UsamaKhilji) December 16, 2014
Indians were also showing their support for the neighboring country on social media, using the hashtag #IndiawithPakistan. Despite the history of conflict between the two nations, thousands in India sent messages of support, and by Tuesday evening the hashtag was trending on Twitter in India.
#IndiawithPakistan Humanity needs to be saved !! They were just kids !! pic.twitter.com/l5t92J3SWB— Tushar (@Tusharvashnavi) December 16, 2014
#indiawithpakistan is now trending in #Mumbai http://t.co/SGugy0Zja0— Trendsmap Mumbai (@TrendsMumbai) December 16, 2014
We want to live by each other's happiness, not each other's misery. #IndiaWithPakistan #PeshawarAttack pic.twitter.com/RPTYuboDz5— India Loves Pakistan (@IndLovesPak) December 16, 2014
India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered condolences to Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif over the telephone, according to his office. He also called on schools across India to observe two minutes of silence on Wednesday to honor the victims of the Peshawar attack.
In the wake of dastardly attack in Pakistan, I appeal to schools across India to observe 2 mins of silence tomorrow as a mark of solidarity.— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 16, 2014
Tuesday's attack was the worst in Pakistan since 2007, when a suicide bombing rocked the port city of Karachi killing 150 people.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.