Taliban Spokesman Disowns University Attack

Taliban gunmen attacked the university in Peshawar, Pakistan, and killed 21 people on January 20, reports Dawn.

At least 50 people were injured in the attack and taken to nearby hospitals, according to media reports.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack.

The Pakistani branch of the Taliban carried out another mass school attack in December 2014, which left 132 children and nine staff members dead in the city of Peshawar. Check back soon for further information.

The army was called in to help security guards retake Bacha Khan University after Taliban gunmen stormed the campus about 130 kilometers west of the capital Islamabad on Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reported.

As police and soldiers dashed to the scene, the attackers traded gunfire with the troops and several explosions were heard from the university campus.

The attack began shortly after the Bacha Khan University opened for classes, said deputy commissioner Tahir Zafar.

Pakistan’s government-run news agency said Bacha Khan University had gathered for a mushaira, a poetry event, to commemorate the anniversary of the death of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, nicknamed Bacha Khan, a Pashtun activist who led a nonviolent movement for independence from the British in the late 1920s.

Although a spokesman for the main Pakistani Taliban faction later disowned the attack as “un-Islamic”, it underlined the strength of the long-running insurgency in Pakistan’s northwest, despite the recent terrorism crackdown.

The apparent dispute over who was responsible appeared to be a sign of continued infighting in the Pakistani Taleban, as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria militant group seeks to gain a foothold in the region by recruiting disaffected fighters. According to them, four of the attackers were killed, and two of them were shot by snipers.

Geology student Zahoor Ahmed said his chemistry lecturer had warned him not to leave the building after the first shots were fired.

He also says Mullah Fazlullah, the head of the Pakistani Taliban had nothing to do with the attack. “We never saw him get up”, another student told local TV.

Prime minister Sharif vowed to fight to the end and destroy the Taleban and other militants. Mansoor said the attack was in retaliation for a military offensive against extremists near the border with Afghanistan.

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is apparently among those looking past the Taliban’s denial of the attack, The Washington Post noted.