FAMILY members of a Glasgow councillor were killed in the Pakistan school massacre.
Southside SNPcouncillor Jahangir Hanif's two nephews each lost a son after Taliban gunmen stormed a Peshawar school.
The councillor has flown out to Pakistan to be with his family.
More than 140 people are known to have been killed in the attack.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: "I am deeply saddened by this devastating news. My thoughts and deepest condolences are with Councillor Hanif and his family at what is a time of terrible sadness.
"I have been in touch with the Hanif family to express my condolences and we understand Councillor Hanif is now on his way to Pakistan to be with his family.
"It is now right that the family is given the space they need to grieve for the loss of their much loved children.
"Yesterday's horrific events in Peshawar stole the lives of 132 innocent school children and nine staff.
"These senseless killings defy any explanation.
"Scotland stands with the people of Pakistan as they try come to terms with these tragic events and they - together with the Pakistani community here in Scotland - have our full support as they seek to move forward."
Other politicians expressed their condolences on Twitter.
SNP MSP Humza Yousaf, Minister for Europe and International Development, tweeted: "Heartbroken that Cllr Hanif lost family in yday's cowardly attack in Peshawar" while SNP MP Angus Robertson wrote: "So sad to learn that relatives of @theSNP Glasgow councillor Jahangir Hanif were killed in the Peshawar massacre."
Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson tweeted: "So sorry to hear Cllr Hanif has lost relatives in yesterday's senseless attack in Peshawar. My thoughts are with his family."
Meanwhile, the Prince of Wales has condemned the Taliban massacre as a "sickening" example of those who kill in the name of faith.
There has been outrage across the world after gunmen from the Pakistani Taliban went from class to class at the Army Public School in the city of Peshawar killing school children and their teachers.
Charles spoke out against the attacks during a visit to the London cathedral of a community of Middle Eastern Christians.
Some of the worshippers have fled persecution in their homelands but in recent months the spread of Islamic State fighters has brought further misery as family back home in Iraq or Syria have been forced to flee for their lives.
At a special service held in Charles's honour, he told the congregation of the Syriac Orthodox Church, based in East Acton, west London: "And as I have said before, it seems to me that all faiths to some extent shine a light on the divine image in every human life.
"And if that is so, then surely to destroy another human being is to desecrate the image of the Divine. To do so in the name of faith is, surely, nothing less than a sacrilege.
"I need hardly say that the murder of 141 people, 132 of them children, in Peshawar yesterday by fanatics claiming to act in the name of Islam was a sickening example of such sacrilege.
"But also a horrific reminder that Muslims themselves are the victims of the violent intolerance of the extremists."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article