Five killed in attack on Malakand university

TIMERGARA: Four policemen and a watchman of the University of Malakand were killed and three others suffered wounds when a group of armed miscreants attacked a police mobile van at the main entrance of the University of Malakand at Chakdara in the Lower Dir district at the wee hours of Wednesday, official sources and eyewitnesses told Dawn.

According to an injured watchman of the University a group of over hundred armed miscreants in the garb of Taliban entered the Varsity premises at 12:45am after beating the gatekeeper.

The attackers were demanding of the watchmen on gunpoint to hand them over all keys of the vehicles and administration block, sources said, adding that apparently they wanted to take away official vehicles along with them.

When the watchmen of the Varsity offered resistance they opened fire on them injuring two of them, identified as Farman and Khaliq Dad Khan.

When a police mobile van reached the scene the militants attacked it with a rocket launcher at the main entrance, sources in the university said. The police van caught fire and was totally destroyed. As a result three policemen, including ASI Azizullah, head constable Inayatullah and constable Adam Khan were killed on the spot while constable Nazir, the driver of the police van, succumbed to his injuries at a hospital in Peshawar on Wednesday.

Constables Rahmatullah, and Wahid Zaman who got bullet injuries are under treatment in Peshawar. Khaliq Dad, one of the injured watchmen, also succumbed to his injuries at the Batkhela hospital.

The injured were earlier rushed to DHQ hospital Batkhela where they were referred to Peshawar due their critical condition, official sources said.

The deceased personnel were buried in their ancestral graveyards with full official honour on Wednesday, eyewitnesses told Dawn.

The attackers took away two vehicles (coaches) of the University along with them, sources said, adding that after the attack on police mobile party they managed to escape from the scene.

The attackers came from Swat and returned there after committing the crime. The miscreants also left two of their pick ups at the venue.

The public relation officer (PRO) of the University of Malakand Dost Muhammad Khan told Dawn it was not clear what the motive behind the attack. The university’s vehicles might have been the target, he added. Police registered a case and started investigation.

Swat Taliban apprehend suspects

The Swat Taliban reportedly claimed to have arrested fourteen of the culprits in Shamozai area and recovered vehicles from their possession.

The Taliban, according to informed sources, handed over the vehicles to the Commissioner Malakand Division Syed Muhammad Javed who spent a busy day at Chakdara on Wednesday.

Official sources seemed reluctant to disclose the perpetrators of attack on the university, but the Taliban were quoted as saying to punish them in accordance with Islamic Shariah law.

Meanwhile, the Adenzai Qaumi Jirga in its meeting on Wednesday in Chakdara demanded of the government and concerned authorities to execute the ‘killers’ in public in accordance with the newly-established Nizam-i-Adl Regulation.

‘They should be publicly executed in accordance with Sharia law immediately so that no one could dare to commit such a heinous crime in future,’ the peace jirga suggested.

They said that some of the 14 attackers were reportedly arrested by Taliban and should be brought before the public so that their identity could be known to every one.

The jirga also demanded of the government to give category ‘A’ status to all the victim of the incident occurred in the University of Malakand. ‘We are committed to protect all of our national institutions at any cost and we will extend all our support to law enforcement agencies in this regard,’ the jirga pledged.

Commissioner Malakand division Syed Muhammad Javed told reporters in Chakdara that attackers of the Malakand University would be punished in accordance with Islamic Sharia.

He said the accused held by the Swat Taliban would be presented before the ‘Qazi’ of Barikot tehsil very soon and the people would come to know the nature of their penalty.

He confirmed that the Taliban had handed him over the vehicles taken away from the University of Malakand.