At least 20 dead in Pakistan university attack

Twenty people have died in the assault.

Wazir said he suspected the gunmen had probably done reconnaissance work launching the attack because “they knew where to go and they knew who to go for”.

There were 130 people, mostly children, killed in that attack in Peshawar, making it the deadliest terror attack in Pakistan’s history. With fifty of the most gravely wounded moved to a larger hospital in nearby Peshawar for treatment, there are fears that the death toll could rise as victims of the attack succumb to their injuries.

This same splinter group is believed to have been responsible for another attack on a school in the same region of northwest Pakistan in 2014.

Botany instructor Mohammad Ishtiaq recounted leaping to safety from a second-floor window when he spied one of the killers headed toward his hiding spot.

Mansoor says his four-man team conducted the assault at the campus in the town of Chasadda.

Pakistan has seen a number of such attacks over the past months as outlawed militant groups try to avenge the Pakistani military’s heavy-handed crackdown on militants. No clear claim of responsibility has been made; an initial claim that attributed the violence to Pakistan’s Taliban has been cast into doubt.

Pakistani forces have been carrying out a major operation against the Taliban and other militants there since 2014.

“We are determined and resolved in our commitment to wipe out the menace of terrorism from our homeland”, he said in a statement.

At least 30 people are confirmed killed today after gunmen stormed the campus of Bacha Khan University, just outside of Peshawar, and began executing students.

The Reuters news service quotes rescue officials as saying eight bodies had been recovered.

Military spokesman Lt. Gen. Asim Bajwa said soldiers killed all four assailants. He also appreciated the quick response of security forces during the attack.