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Pakistan University Attack Kills at Least 19, Official Says Pakistan University Attack Kills at Least 19, Official Says
(35 minutes later)
PESHAWAR, Pakistan — At least 19 people were killed and several wounded when militants attacked a university campus in northwestern Pakistan on Wednesday, a senior government official said.PESHAWAR, Pakistan — At least 19 people were killed and several wounded when militants attacked a university campus in northwestern Pakistan on Wednesday, a senior government official said.
Gunmen scaled the rear walls of Bacha Khan University in the town of Charsadda, just outside the city of Peshawar, around 9:30 a.m., firing into the air, witnesses said.Gunmen scaled the rear walls of Bacha Khan University in the town of Charsadda, just outside the city of Peshawar, around 9:30 a.m., firing into the air, witnesses said.
The dead included two female students, a senior faculty member and four guards, said Fakhr-i-Alam, the senior government official. A Pakistani military spokesman, Lt. Gen. Asim Saleem Bajwa, has said that at least four attackers were killed in exchanges of fire with the security forces. The dead included two female students, a senior faculty member and four guards, said Fakhr-i-Alam, the senior government official. A Pakistani military spokesman, Lt. Gen. Asim Saleem Bajwa, has said that at least four attackers were killed in exchanges of fire with the security forces. The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the assault.
Pakistan’s prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, condemned the attack, which had “reportedly resulted into the loss of precious human lives and injured many others,” according to an official statement.Pakistan’s prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, condemned the attack, which had “reportedly resulted into the loss of precious human lives and injured many others,” according to an official statement.
A security officer, who did not give his name, told Pakistan’s ARY TV that so far, officials had succeeded in rescuing 50 or 60 people. “At this stage, we can’t say how many gunmen are inside,” he said. “The operation is going on. They are heavily armed. You can hear the gunshots, blasts, grenade blasts. We do not know how many people are inside.” Raza Mohammed Khan, deputy superintendent of the police in Charsadda, said all four attackers were killed, and no more militants remained inside the university.
The number of attackers remained unknown. Security officials said from three to six gunmen stormed the school, but a spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban called reporters in Peshawar to claim responsibility for the attack and say that four of their men were involved in the campus attack. “Bomb disposal people are on the spot defusing suicide vests,” said Mr. Fakhr-i-Alam. “The operation is over, clearance and search is on.”
A spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban called reporters in Peshawar to claim responsibility for the attack and say that four of their men were involved.
A school official said that when she and her colleagues realized they were under attack, they locked the door of their office, turned off the lights and lay on the floor. “The university has its own security staff, but it’s not adequate enough to face the well-armed and -trained Taliban,” said the official, Salma Khan.
She said many of the students were killed in their dormitories. “Our resolve of educating our children cannot be shaken by such cowardly acts,” she said.
Kasib Jan, a student, told ARY TV that he had seen four or five gunmen with black turbans shouting “Allahu akbar,” or “God is great.”Kasib Jan, a student, told ARY TV that he had seen four or five gunmen with black turbans shouting “Allahu akbar,” or “God is great.”
“They were firing all around,” he said. “University security guards first engaged them, but it was beyond their capacities. We hid behind the benches in the classrooms. We heard them walking around, but they moved away. We came out and ran away to safety.”“They were firing all around,” he said. “University security guards first engaged them, but it was beyond their capacities. We hid behind the benches in the classrooms. We heard them walking around, but they moved away. We came out and ran away to safety.”
He said that Wednesday was an exam day and that a peace concert had also been scheduled, so the campus was filled with students.He said that Wednesday was an exam day and that a peace concert had also been scheduled, so the campus was filled with students.
Bacha Khan University was founded in 2012 and named after Abdul Ghaffar Khan, a Pashtun activist who advocated nonviolent means to resist British rule in South Asia. Wednesday was the 28th anniversary of the death of Mr. Ghaffar Khan, who was described as “the frontier Gandhi.”
A graduate student at a local hospital, being treated for a gunshot wound, told ARY TV that he could not see much because of heavy fog.A graduate student at a local hospital, being treated for a gunshot wound, told ARY TV that he could not see much because of heavy fog.
Peshawar and the surrounding region have suffered repeated terrorist attacks in recent years. In December 2014 seven gunmen from the Pakistani Taliban killed 145 people, most of them children, in an attack on a military run school in Peshawar.Peshawar and the surrounding region have suffered repeated terrorist attacks in recent years. In December 2014 seven gunmen from the Pakistani Taliban killed 145 people, most of them children, in an attack on a military run school in Peshawar.
That attack, the deadliest in Pakistan’s history, provoked a broad crackdown on militants in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province.That attack, the deadliest in Pakistan’s history, provoked a broad crackdown on militants in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province.
On Tuesday, a Taliban suicide bomber on a motorcycle killed 11 people at a police checkpoint in Peshawar.On Tuesday, a Taliban suicide bomber on a motorcycle killed 11 people at a police checkpoint in Peshawar.