A Bacha Khan University Facebook page says that those killed include a chemistry professor – who reportedly fired back at the gunmen – along with two women, two guards and a policeman.
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In Pakistan, heavily-armed terrorists today stormed the university in Pakistan’s restive northwest Khyber- Pakhtunkhwa province and opened indiscriminate fire on students and teachers. The attackers were later contained inside two university blocks where the troops killed four attackers, the army said.
“All students have been evacuated from the hostels, but militants are still hiding in different parts of the university and some students and staff are stuck inside”, he said before the firing had stopped, adding that it was unclear how many gunmen were involved.
Pakistani TV stations are broadcasting footage showing heavy military presence at the university, troops rushing in and people fleeing.
After the attack, Pakistani army chief Gen. Raheel Sharif visited the university and the wounded in hospital.
Botany teacher Mohammad Ishtiaq said he saw five gunmen enter the building he was in and begin firing automatic assault rifles, as students ran in all directions.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif vowed to fight to the end and destroy the Taliban and other militants.
Mansoor says his four-man team conducted the assault at the campus in the town of Chasadda. ‘I have no idea about what’s going on but I heard one security official talking on the phone to someone and said many people had been killed and injured’.
The Taliban is claiming responsibility for this attack as well, saying it’s revenge for the thousands of jihadists that the Pakistani military has killed in recent months. This type of statement is common, since the Taliban has many loosely linked factions.
Khurasani also said the Taliban “consider the students in non-military institutions the future of our jihad movement” and would not kill potential future followers. It took place just days after authorities closed schools in the area due to reports of a possible terror attack.
Wednesday’s assault targeted a school named after Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, nicknamed Bacha Khan, a towering secular figure in Pakistani politics who died in 1988.
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However, since then the Taliban group known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan backed away from the claim, according to The Express Tribune, an English-language Pakistani newspaper.
