Gunmen stormed a university in northwest Pakistan Wednesday morning, killing some 20 people and injuring around 60, according to a local lawmaker.
"There was heavy fog in the area when armed men entered ... and started firing at the security guards, students and teachers" at Bacha Khan University in Charsadda, regional police chief Saeed Wazir said.
Shaukat Yousafzai, a lawmaker of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), told NBC News that 20 people had been killed by the attackers, who scaled the walls around the campus. Some students and faculty were also taken hostage, he said.
Four of the gunman were killed during an exchange of gunfire with security forces, according to military spokesman Lt. Gen. Asim Salim Bajwa.
Student Bakhtiar Khan said he saw four militants firing at the security guards.
"They shot [and] injured three security guards and one of them later went to block number one, another climbed to upper floor of the building and the third one went towards administration block," he said.
Aizaz Khan thought he was hearing a fight when shooting started.
"We heard firing from the back of the campus," the student told Reuters. "Then the firing increased. Then we said, 'Get into the rooms — don't go out.' Then the security forces came. They showed great bravery."
Police chief Wazir said law enforcement agencies had been called from adjoining districts to Charsadda. Some of the students had been rescued from their dorms, he added.
Bacha Khan University is named after after Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, a prominent progressive politician and champion of women's rights. Wednesday is the anniversary of his 1988 death.
Marwat, the vice chancellor, said 3,000 students are enrolled at the university.
University officials had been warned by authorities about the possibility of an attack about two weeks ago and had increased security at the site, an official said speaking on condition of anonymity told NBC News.
In December 2014, a half-dozen Taliban suicide bombers laid siege to the Army Public School in Peshawar, a city about 20 miles southwest of Bacha Khan University. That attack left 143 students and several soldiers dead.
No comments:
Post a Comment