Peshawar: Shaken by the Taliban terror attack in which 148 people, including 132 schoolchildren, were killed, Pakistan yesterday pledged to announce a “national plan” to tackle terrorism within a week with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif saying “this entire region” should be cleaned of terrorism. Even as a grieving nation began a 3-day mourning for the dead in the worst terror attack in its history, Sharif and leaders of all other parties set aside their bitter differences and met here to discuss the situation.

Bullet holes are seen on the wall at the army-run school in Peshawar a day after the attack by Taliban militants on Tuesday. Pakistan began three days of mourning yesterday for the 148 people, including 132 schoolchildren, killed by the Taliban in the country’s deadliest ever terror attack as the world united in a chorus of revulsion.