KEIGHLEY politicians have condemned yesterday’s attack by the Taliban on a school in Pakistan.

District councillors representing Keighley Central ward – where many residents have relatives in Pakistan – spoke of their horror at the death toll.

One of the councillors, Khadim Hussain, revealed the Keighley community would raise money for victims of the atrocity.

Taliban gunman killed at least 132 children and nine staff during the attack on a school in the city of Peshawar.

Mass funerals and prayer vigils for the victims were today under way in Pakistan, and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif declared three days of mourning.

Cllr Hussain, the former Lord Mayor of Bradford, said he had been devastated yesterday to watch the drama unfold in Peshawar on a news programme.

He said: “You can’t stop tears coming out. These young kids – what have they done? Why should they be targeted?

“These were flowers before they had blossomed, and they have been killed. This is naked barbarity by people saying they’re fighting Jihad.”

Council Hussain said the “criminality and barbarity” of organisations like the Taliban and Isis could not be accepted in any part of the world.

He said: “It’s only the Pakistan nation that has to put its differences to one side, we all have to defeat this evil.

“Wherever this terrorism takes place we have to unite and eradicate it.”

Cllr Hussain said society had to focus on extremism in all its forms, both political and religious.

Fellow Keighley Central councillor Abid Hussain said his thoughts were for the parents of the children who lost their lives in the attack.

He added: “It’s disgraceful. Children go to learn for their future.”

Former ward councillor Zafar Ali described the people responsible for the massacre as “monsters”.

He said: ““My heart goes out to the victims and their families. The killing of innocent people can never be justified, it has no place in any religion.

“The monsters doing this are trying to destroy the good work that other people in the world are doing.

“This has been going on for years now, and the problem isn’t going away.”

The councillors added their condemnation to that of Keighley MP Kris Hopkins, who yesterday said he was appalled by the “gutless and sickening” attack.

He said: “Sadly, civilians lose their lives in all wars. But for these gunmen to force their way into a school with the intent of murdering scores of children is almost beyond words.

“I know there that a great many of my constituents, particularly those of Pakistani origin, will be equally shocked and upset by what has happened. “There can be no justification for such barbarous actions which can only be condemned in the strongest possible terms.”