Bacha Khan University re-opens under heavy security
Bacha Khan University (BKU) in Charsadda reopens today.
Dunya News Reports (Yaruq Malik)
ISLAMABAD: Bacha Khan University (BKU) in Charsadda where militants carried out a terrorist attack last month, killing 21 people including students, faculty and security guards, reopens today.
The decision to reopen the university was taken by Bacha Khan University Vice Chancellor Fazal Raheem Marwat. The meeting was attended by Charsadda District Police Officer (DPO) Suhail Khalid, DSP Raza Mohammad and Director for Administration Dr. Shakeel Khan and other university staff members.
During the meeting, the decision to deploy male and female constables was considered. Strict security measures will be arranged. Security forces will be placed around the university and vehicles will be checked before allowing entry into the premises.
Earlier last month, heavy firing and several blasts were heard when four terrorists entered Bacha Khan University in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Charsadda town on Wednesday.
Inter-Service Public Relations stated that all four terrorists were killed during the operation carried out by Pakistan Army.
According to ISPR Director General Lt General Asim Bajwa, the terrorists who carried out the attack were using Afghan SIMs. One of the terrorists was receiving calls from Afghanistan even after he was killed.
The ISPR Chief said that SIM cards and two mobile phones were recovered from the terrorists, which were traced and analyzed. “Their call logs were analysed and an intelligence picture was established, with most data having been collected,” said Gen Bajwa.
According to Rescue 1122, the injured were transferred to different hospitals in Charsadda and Peshawar. All hospitals throughout the town were ordered to remain on high alert. Professor Dr. Syed Hamid of the university was amongst the martyrs.
Pakistan Army and Pakistan Army Commandos were quick to respond and arrived on time. The police surrounded the premises and Air Surveillance was carried out. Pakistan Army responded with the action of carrying out an operation inside the building.
According to witnesses and security in charge of Bacha Khan University, the terrorists used the intense fog as an advantage and entered the premises through the back wall of the building.
The mastermind of the APS Peshawar attack, Umar Mansoor, of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Geedar group claimed responsibility of the attack through a post on his Face book page, adding that four attackers were sent to the university.
In 2014, Pakistan experienced a deadliest terrorist attack of the same sort that took many lives most of which were children.
On 16 December 2014, seven gunmen affiliated with Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) conducted a terrorist attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar, Pakistan. The militants, all of whom were foreign nationals, entered the school and opened fire on school staff and children, killing 141 people, including 132 school children, ranging between eight and eighteen years of age.
A rescue operation was launched by the Pakistan Army’s Special Services Group (SSG) Special Forces, which killed all seven terrorists and rescued 960 people. In December 2015, Pakistan hanged four militants involved in the Peshawar massacre.
