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Khan vows to visit Pakistan following school atrocity

Amir Khan defeated Devon Alexander at Las Vegas' MGM Grand Garden Arena last weekend © Getty Images

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Amir Khan has vowed to travel to Pakistan to show his support for the families of those killed by the Taliban in last week's army school massacre.

Bolton-born Khan, who is the son of Pakistani parents and one of the biggest sporting icons in Asia, said he hoped to visit Pakistan before the end of the year to "send a statement" as the country attempts to recover from the atrocity, in which the Taliban killed 141 people, mainly children, at a school in Peshawar.

"I will be going to Pakistan between Christmas and New Year," Khan told Sunday newspapers. "Talking about this stuff could be threatening for me, but I just want to speak the truth and tell people what is happening is wrong.

"I think it's more important now than ever to go over there. I think it will send a statement to a lot of people that Amir Khan is going there to make a difference. I want it to be a better country. It's just a shame - I cannot believe how sick some people are."

Khan defeated America's Devon Alexander in Las Vegas a week ago and has already promised to auction off the £30,000 shorts he wore to help rebuild the school and strengthen security in the area.

He admitted the killings had hit him particularly hard after becoming a father for the first time in May.

"The news hurt me even more having a little girl," he said. "Imagine sending my daughter to school and hearing that she got killed. Innocent kids, killed over nothing. They had nothing to do with anything, they had not done anything, and the Taliban went and killed them.

"They are killing their own people and I'm thinking to myself, 'Why are these people doing that? Have they got no brains?' Setting the teachers on fire in front of the kids? These people are ruthless.

"It's very disgusting seeing or hearing stuff like this. You can never think people will be that sick in their mind."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd