Peshawar school attack: Young girl, 3, who witnessed shooting says it has inspired her to become a doctor

The girl's teacher told the girl to hide behind a desk, before she was killed

Pakistani political party workers, traders and students light candles during a vigil in Islamabad on December 18, 2014, for the children and teachers killed in an attack by Taliban militants on an army-run school in Peshawar. (AFP PHOTO / Farooq NAEEMFAROOQ NAEEM/AFP/Getty Images)

A three-year-old girl who hid behind her desk as she witnessed the massacre at her school in Peshawar this week, has said the tragedy has inspired her to become a doctor.

In Tuesday’s brutal attack, Taliban gunmen stormed the Army Public School in Peshawar, and killed 148 people including 132 children.

Shahid Khan, 40, told reporters from Pakistan’s Dunya News that his daughter Eman, 3, was told by her teacher Hafsa, to hide behind her desk when the killers ran into the institution. Hafsa was later killed, he said.

Eman witnessed the massacre in Peshawar (YouTube/DonyaNews)

“I just shut my eyes as it was so horrible what was happening before me,” the three-year-old told reporters, according to Mail Online.

“I saw some very ugly men enter the room and started shouting in a different language.

“My teacher asked me to go and hide behind the table and not look. They are bad people,” she said.

“I heard many of the students crying. They were feeling pain,” the young child said.

A three-year-old who witnessed the massacre in Peshawar

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Asked if she wanted to continue her education, she declared she is “a brave girl” and was prepared to study in her school again where she can “play with her friends”.

"If the bad men do it again I will treat my brother and sisters," she said.

Khan told reports that he was proud of his daughter’s bravery, and spoke of the anguish he felt as he waited to hear if his children were safe.

While Eman was unhurt, the authorities told Khan his son was in hospital. He is currently in a stable condition.

The Khan’s story emerged as Pakistan entered its third day of mourning. Several other militant groups, many of which have slaughtered civilians themselves, have joined in a nationwide condemnation of the brutal attack.

The Afghan Taliban, a group the Pakistani jihadists idolise, were the first of the Sunni Islamist armed groups to denounce the school attack as un-Islamic, following by powerful splinter group Jamaat-ul-Ahrar.

Responding to the tragedy, Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, swore that politicians would bury their differences and unite to defeat terrorism.

“We must not forget these scenes,” Mr Sharif said, “the way they left bullet holes in the bodies of innocent kids, the way they tore apart their faces with bullets.”

Additional reporting by Reuters