Too early to say who attacked the University, says Pakistan

Islamabad, Jan 21: Pakistani authorities on Thursday said it was too early to draw conclusions about who was behind the deadly attack on the Bacha Khan University in northwest Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.

“It is premature to draw any conclusion as to who may be behind the Charsada University attack before investigations are complete,” Foreign Office spokesperson Qazi Khalilullah said here. Speaking at the weekly briefing in Islamabad, Khalilullah said, “Initial investigations reveal that attackers were in contact with their handlers reportedly operating from Afghanistan.”

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

Following the attack on the state-run university, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) director general Lt Gen. Asim Saleem Bajwa said on Wednesday the Bacha Khan University attackers were in touch with their handlers in Afghanistan during the assault.

“The attackers were in touch with a number from Afghanistan,” the chief military spokesperson told a news briefing in Peshawar.

He said the SIM cards used in the phones were of Afghan origin. He added that a mobile phone recovered from one of the attackers was receiving calls even after he had been killed. Four terrorists, armed with sub-machine guns, pistols and hand grenades, launched the attack around 8.45 a.m. when the campus was enveloped in thick morning fog.

According to eyewitnesses and officials, the terrorists scaled the rear wall of the campus and entered the guest house of the vice chancellor.

At least 21 people, mostly students, were killed and dozens injured in the sickening violence at the university, claimed by splinter group of TTP, though the fugitive leadership of the umbrella group denied involvement. (IANS)