GUNMEN ATTACKING PAKISTANI BACHAKHAN UNIVERSITY LEAVES 30 DEAD

Four gunmen killed after an attack in north-west Pakistan,Officials warn that the death toll is likely to rise

Pakistani security personnel taking position outside the Bacha Khan university following an attack by gunmen in Charsadda.

Pakistani officials say the death toll from an attack by Taliban assailants on a university in Charsadda, northwestern Pakistan, has risen to 30, with many wounded.
A gun battle ensued between militants and security forces at the Bacha Khan University, after four gunmen entered the campus in the morning. Reports say explosions were first heard at around 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday.
The military and police forces rushed in by about noon, and exchanged gunfire with the attackers. By early afternoon, four of the attackers had been killed, according to Lieutenant General Asim Bajwa of the Pakistan Armed Forces.
According to AFP, the Pakistani Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack.
“Our four suicide attackers carried out the attack on Bacha Khan University today,” Umar Mansoor, a commander in the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistani (TTP) militant group said over the phone from an undisclosed location.

He said the attack was in retaliation for the military's recent crack down on extremists in tribal areas.
A spokesman for rescue workers, Bilal Ahmad Faizi, said 19 bodies had been recovered including students, guards, policemen and at least one teacher, named by media as chemistry professor Syed Hamid Hussain.
Many of the dead were apparently shot in the head, TV footage showed.
Reuters also has this account of the how the attack unfolded:
The militants, using the cover of thick, wintry fog, scaled the walls of the university before entering buildings and opening fire on students and teachers in classrooms and hostels, police said.
Students told media they saw several young men wielding AK-47 guns storming the university housing where many students were sleeping.

“They came from behind and there was a big commotion,” an unnamed male student told a news channel from a hospital bed in Charsadda’s District Hospital. “We were told by teachers to leave immediately. Some people hid in bathrooms.”
Television footage showed military vehicles packed with soldiers driving into the campus as helicopters buzzed overhead and ambulances lined up outside the main gate while anxious parents consoled each other.
Shabir Khan, a lecturer in the English department, said he was about to leave his university housing for the department when firing began.

“Most of the students and staff were in classes when the firing began,” Khan said. “I have no idea about what’s going on but I heard one security official talking on the phone to someone and said many people had been killed and injured.”

The terrorist monitoring group SITE confirms the mixed messages coming from the Pakistani Taliban. While one commander Umar Mansoor claimed responsibility for the attack. The organisation’s central spokesman Muhammad Khurasni has strongly condemned it.

Pakistani rescuers shift an injured victim from the Bacha Khan university.

Pakistani police and onlookers gather in front of a hospital after the attack.

Pakistani rescuers carrying coffins after the attack.

Pakistani TV broadcasts showed heavy military presence at the university in the afternoon, as security forces cleared the campus block by block. Reports say the attackers managed to hold out for several hours in the campus buildings before they were killed.

Pakistan's army chief Raheef Sharif (R) arrives at Bacha Khan university following an attack by militants in Charsadda.

Pakistan Army's QRF and KPK Elite force arrive on the spot to carryout an operation at #BachaKhanUniversity #Charsadda
Posted by Bacha Khan University Charsadda (OFFICIAL) on Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Lack of ambulances a worrying sign amid Bacha... by arynews

News outlets are reporting rising casualty numbers as the events unfold. So far, one Chemistry Professor Syed Hamid Husain[PHD in Organic Chem] killed in the attack has been identified, said Al Jazeera.

Students told of how he opened fire on gunmen as they rampaged across campus, giving the young people time to flee before he was cut down in a hail of bullets.
“We saw three terrorists shouting, ‘Allah is great!’ and rushing towards the stairs of our department,” one man told reporters.
“One student jumped out of the classroom through the window. We never saw him get up.”
He described seeing Hussain holding a pistol and firing at the attackers.
“Then we saw him fall down and as the terrorists entered the (registrar) office we ran away.”
Geology student Zahoor Ahmed said Husain had warned him not to leave the building after the first shots were fired.
“He was holding a pistol in his hand,” he said.
“Then I saw a bullet hit him. I saw two militants were firing. I ran inside and then managed to flee by jumping over the back wall.”
“They fired directly at” the professor, sociology student Muhammad Daud told AFP, describing Hussain as “a real gentleman and a respectable teacher”. Pakistan’s President Mamnoon Hussain confirmed the lecturer had died, and expressed his grief and condolences to the man’s family.

Journalist Omar Quraishi has some background and a photograph of Omar Mansoor, the Pakistani Taliban commander who initially claimed the TTP carried out the attack.