Pakistani military arrests 5 in university attack

Pakistan observed a day of national mourning yesterday for the 21 people killed when heavily armed Taleban gunmen stormed a university in the troubled north-west, exposing the failings in a national crackdown on extremism.

Early on Wednesday, gunmen entered Bacha Khan University in Charsadda, 50km (30 miles) from Peshawar, and opened fire on students and faculty as they gathered for a poetry event.

Security guards stand alert around schools and colleges following an attack on Bacha Khan University, in Peshawar, Pakistan, Thursday, Jan. 21, 2016.

It was one of the most brazen attacks claimed by the Pakistani Taliban, and came barely one year after the militant group raided an army-run public school in Peshawar, massacring more than 150 people, majority children.

Students and teachers died in the attack, which triggered a fierce gun battle that lasted for about six hours.

Strongly condemning the attack on Bacha Khan University, the Office of the President said fight against terrorism is only possible through joint and honest cooperation.

One Pakistani Taliban commander said the group carried out the assault, but its main spokesman denied this. “As Afghan leadership was here [in Islamabad] on that occasion, all issues of mutual interest and concern were discussed with them”. Witnesses say the number of dead could have been much higher had it not been for Hussein’s efforts.

On Friday, the Taliban faction behind the massacre at Bacha Khan university posted a video message vowing to target schools throughout the country, calling them “nurseries” for people who challenge Allah’s law.

“We are not safe, even parents do not feel safe”, he said.

The army chief, during his telephonic conversations with both Afghan leaders and the U.S. commander, who is also leading the Resolute Support Mission, asked them to cooperate in bringing to justice the mastermind, planners and handlers of the attack.

He said the four attackers, all killed in clashes with security forces in the university, crossed through the Torkham border point from Afghanistan and that the attack appeared to be coordinated from inside Afghanistan.

Bajwa told a late Wednesday press conference that the security forces had achieved a breakthrough in identifying the attackers and those who planned the attack.

Mansoor had released a similar video in the wake of the Peshawar attack on December 16, 2014, Pakistan’s deadliest ever extremist assault.

Islamabad was likely to renew its demand from Kabul to eliminate Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan’s sanctuaries from Afghan soil, he added.