WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama condemned the deadly Taliban raid on a Pakistani school Tuesday and promised that America would stand by the country in its struggle against violent extremism.

Follow live updates of the incident here: TTP militants storm Peshawar school, 131 killed

“By targeting students and teachers in this heinous attack, terrorists have once again shown their depravity,” he said, after the attack on the army-run facility in Peshawar left at 130 people dead.

“We stand with the people of Pakistan, and reiterate the commitment of the United States to support the government of Pakistan in its efforts to combat terrorism and extremism and to promote peace and stability in the region.”

Kerry devastated at ‘gut-wrenching’ images of attack

US Secretary of State John Kerry, in London to speak about a Palestinian bid at the United Nations to force Israel to withdraw from Palestinian land, said images of the attack were “gut-wrenching”.

“Mothers and fathers send their kids to school to learn and to be safe and to dream and find opportunity,” Kerry told reporters.

“Instead today they are gone, wiped away by Taliban assassins who serve a dark and almost medieval vision, the opposite of everything that those mothers and fathers wanted for their children.”