The Pakistani army has claimed the Charsadda attackers were managed by handlers across the border in Afghanistan.
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Sharif has vowed a “ruthless” response to the massacre and ordered security forces to hunt those behind Wednesday’s attack, which was claimed by a Pakistani Taliban faction but branded “un-Islamic” by the umbrella group’s leadership, who also vowed to hunt down those responsible.
Soldiers rushed to the university and engaged the terrorists, triggering gun battles that lasted over five hours.
He said the timely reaction of the police prevented the death toll rising even higher. And once again, the blood of students and teachers stained classrooms and hallways, raising questions about whether security forces are able to protect the country’s educational institutions from extremists.
“My son was grown up, but still he was an innocent kid for me”, said Gula Bibi, the mother of the second killed teacher, Iftikhar Ahmad, who was the university librarian.
Local police said that about 10 suspects with alleged links to the attackers had been arrested, DPA reported. “All of them have bullet wounds”, he told AFP.
One Pakistani Taliban spokesman, Umar Mansoor, said it was in retaliation for military operations against the group. The attack coincided with the 28th anniversary of Khan’s death on January 20, 1988.
“There was no announced threat but we had already beefed up security at the university”.
The national flag flew at half mast at all government and private buildings across the country and at Pakistani embassies in other countries.
The official said it was a positive sign that villagers came to the rescue of the students.
The official said ostensibly, the attackers didn’t meant to lay long siege or take students or staff members hostage.
DawnNews showed footage of a large crowd gathered outside the gate of the school.
At least 20 people were killed and dozens injured on Wednesday when gunmen stormed the northwest Bacha Khan University under the cover of morning fog. “At the moment I have no details about the casualties from the attack”.
Around 1,000 people in a nearby village attended the funeral on Thursday of a university caretaker killed. It said four attackers were sent to the university.
The attack on the school prompted a crackdown on extremism in Pakistan, with the military increasing an offensive against militants in the tribal areas where they had previously operated with impunity.
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“I want to tell the terrorists, they can never win, they will lose, we will win, we the followers of peace and not terrorism”, Shah Hussain, father of the caretaker Fakhr-e-Alam, told AFP.
