25 killed as Taliban militants storm university in Pakistan

CHARSADDA, PAKISTAN: At least 21 people were massacred today by Kalashnikov-wielding Taliban suicide attackers who stormed a prestigious university here in restive northwestern Pakistan and opened indiscriminate fire, in a grim reminder of the 2014 Peshawar army school attack.

The gunmen entered the Bacha Khan University named after iconic leader Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan alias Bacha Khan in Charsadda, some 50 km 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 scale 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 Bacha 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 the media that the operation launched by security forces to clear the campus has been completed.

He said the attack was in 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 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 and roof top taken over by Army...," he said.

The victims were shot in the head or chest. Images from inside the university showed a pool of blood on the floor of a dormitory and 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.

Omar Mansoor, Peshawar school attack mastermind and a commander of the Hakimullah Mehsud faction of the Tehreek-e- Taliban Pakistani (TTP), claimed responsibility for today's assault.

He called local media from a mobile number in Afghanistan to claim that they have carried out the attack.

A spokesman of the militant group said it was revenge for those killed by security forces since Peshawar school attack. The attacks would continue, he warned.

But the spokesman of another Taliban faction, Mohammad Khurasani, condemned the attack and said they were not involved in it.

Geo TV reported that Professor Hamid Hussain of chemistry department was also among the dead.