He said they “are trying to assess the situation”.
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News on casualties was sketchy, but Mohammad Saleem Rasouly, head of hospitals in the Afghan capital, told Reuters that at least one student had been killed and 14 wounded.
The attack was condemned by Afghan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah.
But there was no claim of responsibility for the raid. The group’s spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, would only tell the media that the Taliban are “investigating”. He said three were “seriously” wounded, probably from automatic gunfire.
Pakistan’s military also issued a statement on the conversation between Ghani and Sharif, saying “Pakistani soil would not be allowed to be used for any type of terrorism in Afghanistan”.
A senior USA defense official said American military troops who are advising the Afghans have been on site at the university but are not taking part in a combat role.
Hours after the siege ended, it’s still unclear exactly how many attackers participated and whether they belong to a specific militant group. It has produced 29 Fulbright scholars and maintains partnerships with many US colleges, such as Stanford, Georgetown and the University of California system. A guard had injuries that appeared to be a result of one of the explosions, he said.
Mujib Mashal, a writer for The New York Times, said on Twitter that police said a vehicle bomb exploded.
Officials say the attack started around 7 p.m. local time when a auto stocked with explosives was detonated in front of the university’s security wall.
The gunmen were killed by police early on Thursday morning, before police units rescued some 150 students who had been trapped in the university buildings.
Police had evacuated between 700 and 750 students from the university.
The American University of Afghanistan has about 1,700 students and advertises itself as the country’s only not-for-profit, “non-partisan”, co-educational university.
The university remained closed on Thursday and it wasn’t clear when it would reopen.
“Attack on university in fact is killing brains and killing of the future leaders of the country and anyone should condemn it”, a guard of a private office here Aga Gul told Xinhua.
“I heard explosions and gunfire is going on close by… our classroom is filled with smoke and dust”, an anxious student told AFP by telephone, before fleeing the campus.
Among them was Associated Press photojournalist Massoud Hossaini, who was said to be wounded and later managed to escape with some fellow students.
“Everyone looked around the room looking for an escape”, he said.
Afghan security forces have been combing the university grounds in search of the perpetrators and any students still hiding, Glasse reports. “A small number of advisers from the Resolute Support Mission is now assisting Afghan forces as they respond”.
A senior interior ministry official says that Afghan forces surrounded the walled compound and eventually worked their way inside.
The attack took place two weeks after two university staffers, an American and an Australian, were kidnapped. The whereabouts of the abductees remains unknown.
The Taliban have been fighting to overthrow the Kabul government for 15 years, and regard foreign civilians as legitimate targets.
Last few months have been really painful for Afghanistan as it faced many terrorist attacks and hundreds of people lost their lives in these attacks.
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The attack ended early today at the campus on the outskirts of Kabul.
