21 killed as Taliban militants storm university in Pak
Charsadda (Pakistan), Jan 20, 2016 (PTI)
At least 21 people were massacred today by heavily-armed Taliban suicide attackers who stormed a prestigious university here in restive northwestern Pakistan and opened indiscriminate fire, in a grim reminder of the Peshawar army school attack in 2014.
The gunmen entered the Bacha Khan University named after iconic leader Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan alias Baacha Khan in Charsadda, some 50 kms southwest of Peshawar in Khyber- Pakhtunkhwa province, and opened fire on students and teachers in classrooms and hostels, police said.
Four militants were also killed as security forces retaliated, bringing the death toll to 25 in the grisly attack.
The militants used the cover of thick, wintry fog to scaled the walls of the university before entering buildings.
Blasts and heavy gunfire were heard from inside the campus where a poetic symposium was in progress to mark the death anniversary of Baacha Khan who died on January 20, 1988.
There were about 3,000 students and 600 guests on the campus when the attack took place, Vice Chancellor of the university Dr Fazal Rahim said.
Federal Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid visited university and told media that the operation launched by security forces to clear the campus has been completed.
He said the attack was a response to military operation in the province which has broken the back of militants.
A professor, two students and four security guards were among the dead, authorities said.
Army spokesman Lt Gen Asim Salim Bajwa tweeted that four terrorists were killed during operation launched by security forces to clear the University.
"Snipers killed 2 more terrorists on roof top, total Terrorist killed so far 4. All buildings & roof top taken over by Army...," he said.
The victims were shot in the head or chest. Images from inside the university show a pool of blood on the floor of a dormitory and the charred corpses of two alleged militants lying on a staircase.
The injured were shifted to hospital. An emergency has been declared in all hospitals in the town. All schools have been closed in the area.
Army chief Gen Raheel Sharif rushed to the spot along with Corps Commander Peshawar and other top military officials where he was briefed about the operation.
Today's attack comes a little over a year after Taliban militants massacred over 150 people, mostly students, in an assault on an army-run school in Peshawar in December, 2014.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who is in Zurich to attend the World Economic Forum, condemned the cowardly attack, saying those killing innocent students and citizens have no faith and religion.
"We are determined and resolved in our commitment to wipe out the menace of terrorism from our homeland. The countless sacrifices made by our countrymen will not go in vain," he said in a statement.
The gunmen entered the Bacha Khan University named after iconic leader Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan alias Baacha Khan in Charsadda, some 50 kms southwest of Peshawar in Khyber- Pakhtunkhwa province, and opened fire on students and teachers in classrooms and hostels, police said.
Four militants were also killed as security forces retaliated, bringing the death toll to 25 in the grisly attack.
The militants used the cover of thick, wintry fog to scaled the walls of the university before entering buildings.
Blasts and heavy gunfire were heard from inside the campus where a poetic symposium was in progress to mark the death anniversary of Baacha Khan who died on January 20, 1988.
There were about 3,000 students and 600 guests on the campus when the attack took place, Vice Chancellor of the university Dr Fazal Rahim said.
Federal Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid visited university and told media that the operation launched by security forces to clear the campus has been completed.
He said the attack was a response to military operation in the province which has broken the back of militants.
A professor, two students and four security guards were among the dead, authorities said.
Army spokesman Lt Gen Asim Salim Bajwa tweeted that four terrorists were killed during operation launched by security forces to clear the University.
"Snipers killed 2 more terrorists on roof top, total Terrorist killed so far 4. All buildings & roof top taken over by Army...," he said.
The victims were shot in the head or chest. Images from inside the university show a pool of blood on the floor of a dormitory and the charred corpses of two alleged militants lying on a staircase.
The injured were shifted to hospital. An emergency has been declared in all hospitals in the town. All schools have been closed in the area.
Army chief Gen Raheel Sharif rushed to the spot along with Corps Commander Peshawar and other top military officials where he was briefed about the operation.
Today's attack comes a little over a year after Taliban militants massacred over 150 people, mostly students, in an assault on an army-run school in Peshawar in December, 2014.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who is in Zurich to attend the World Economic Forum, condemned the cowardly attack, saying those killing innocent students and citizens have no faith and religion.
"We are determined and resolved in our commitment to wipe out the menace of terrorism from our homeland. The countless sacrifices made by our countrymen will not go in vain," he said in a statement.
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