Two attackers were killed, and firing is still on inside the Bacha Khan University campus, 50 kilometres from Peshawar.
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Four of the gunmen have been killed by security forces and the army has contained the militants to two blocks inside the university, a spokesman for the army said on twitter.
The army said it had concluded operations to clear the campus six hours after the attack began, and that four gunmen were dead.
Television images showed female students clutching hands as they fled the university, with traffic blocked on the roads of Charsadda as security forces rushed towards the campus.
Today’s attack took place about 20 miles outside Peshawar, in the town of Charsadda.
“We heard firing from the back of the campus”, the student told Reuters. The added security at the event helped keep the attackers confined to one side of the university, he said. The students ran in different directions, he said.
“I am going to Charsadda myself, and will review the situation myself.
The countless sacrifices made by our countrymen will not go in vain”, the statement quoted the Prime Minister, who is now in Zurich, as saying.
Mansoor, the alleged mastermind behind the attack who also claimed Wednesday’s assault, vowed in 2014 to continue his “revenge” for the military crackdown.
A large contingent of security forces had reached the site and started evacuating students.
The main spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, Mohammad Khurasani, also reiterated the claim of responsibility.
The official Facebook page of the university also said Hamid was among those killed.
Such statements from among the Taliban are not uncommon since the group has many loosely linked factions and is indicative of the deep divisions and splits among the insurgents.
Sharif expressed sorrow and grief on the loss of precious lives in the terror attack and said those who attacked innocent students and citizens have no religion. While the Taliban leadership is fractured, Mansoor is believed to remain loyal to central leader Mullah Fazlullah.
Wednesday’s attack was the second major attack in as many days in the volatile northwest.
On Tuesday, a suicide bomber blew himself up close to a police checkpoint in the Jamrud area of northwestern Pakistan, killing at least 10 people and wounding more than 20. “We are constantly in this military operation against the terrorists, and they are on the run”.
Three army helicopters have been employed to monitor the operation, said army sources.
Bacha Khan University is named after after Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, a prominent progressive politician and champion of women’s rights.
The Peshawar school attack was seen as having hardened Pakistan’s resolve to fight militants along its lawless border with Afghanistan.
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“In this case, the Pakistanis are the victims, in other cases in our country Pakistani’s are the perpetrators”.
