Pakistan holds day of mourning after university attack

President Mamnoon Hussain and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif condemned the terror attack and directed security agencies to clear the University of Terrorists at the earliest.

“The terrorists will see a ruthless response by the state”.

Security forces cordoned off a one-storey house, situated around a kilometre from the university’s boundary wall, where three terrorists were believed to be holed up.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday appreciated the sentiment expressed by Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on Charsadda Incident.

Armed police, some perched on the roofs of buildings, were still deployed Thursday morning at the Bacha Khan University campus, where students were targeted with grenades and automatic weapons, an AFP reporter said.

The attack has been claimed by Omar Mansoor, of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) h on his Facebook page, adding that four attackers were sent to the university.

Hospital officials said one of the wounded students in Charsadda, a geology major, had died overnight.

The assault ended after hours of pitched combat when the security forces cornered the attackers into two university blocks.

The FIR was registered on the complaint of SHO Sardheri police station.

At least 17 suspects, including five facilitators of the varsity attack, were arrested during search operations today in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and FATA, sources said.

She also called for Pakistani authorities to ensure “that all schools and universities are safe”. A provincial government spokesman said they were closed as part of a security drill.

In a press conference after the attack, Pakistan military spokesman Lt. Gen Asim Bajwa stated the attackers carried mobile phones with Afghan numbers and “were in touch with their handlers in Afghanistan”. “We offer our deepest condolences to the victims and their families during this time of grief”, the statement said.

European Union’s (EU) High Representative and Vice-President Federica Mogherini said the university strike was “another attack against the innocent, the youth and the very future of Pakistan”.

Police said that check posts have been set up on all the roads of Charsadda and snap checking is underway.

As police and soldiers rushed to the scene, the attackers traded gunfire with the troops, and several explosions were heard. 19 confirmed dead including a Professor (Mr Hamid, Chemistry Department), 2 females, 2 guards and a policeman.

Media reports said that they then opened fire on students and teachers in classrooms and hostels.

“It is premature to draw any conclusion as to who may be behind the Charsada university attack before investigations are complete”, Foreign Office spokesperson Qazi Khalilullah said.

Since the start of the new year, Pakistan has been battered by five militant attacks, majority targeting security forces.

Those attacks seemed to reach their nadir in December 2014 when gunmen swarmed through a school in Peshawar, massacring dozens of schoolchildren in an assault that triggered widespread revulsion and prompted a fierce military crackdown on militants.