PESHAWAR, Pakistan — The Taliban massacre that killed 148 people, mostly children, at a military-run school in northwestern Pakistan left a scene of heart-wrenching devastation, pools of blood and young lives snuffed out as the nation mourned and mass funerals for the victims started today.

The attack at the Army Public School and College in the city of Peshawar on Tuesday was the deadliest slaughter of innocents in the country and horrified a nation already weary of unending terrorist assaults.

Prayer vigils were held across Pakistan and in other schools, students spoke of their shock at the brutal slayings in Peshawar, where children and teenagers were gunned down and some of the female teachers burned alive. Army commandos fought the Taliban in a daylong battle until the school was cleared and all the attackers dead.

Some of the critically wounded adults — members of the school staff — died overnight, raising the overall death toll to 148.

SYDNEY — A gunman responsible for a deadly siege in a Sydney cafe was once on the national security agency's watch list — but was dropped off it years ago, Australia's prime minister said today.Man Haron Monis, a 50-year-old Iranian-born, self-styled cleric, took 17 people hostage inside a downtown Sydney cafe Monday. Sixteen hours later, the siege ended in a barrage of gunfire when police rushed in to free the captives. Two hostages were killed along with Monis.