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Pakistan university attack: Gunmen kill professor and student after storming campus near Peshawar Pakistan university attack: Gunmen kill professor and student after storming campus near Peshawar
(35 minutes later)
Gunmen have stormed a university in northwestern Pakistan, killing a professor and a student, and wounding at least five others.Gunmen have stormed a university in northwestern Pakistan, killing a professor and a student, and wounding at least five others.
Police said two gunmen have been killed but other attackers are believed to be on the second and third floors of campus buildings at Bacha Khan University and firing is still going on.Police said two gunmen have been killed but other attackers are believed to be on the second and third floors of campus buildings at Bacha Khan University and firing is still going on.
Deputy Inspector General Saeed Wazir said police believed that most of the students had been rescued but several gunmen remained at large inside the university.Deputy Inspector General Saeed Wazir said police believed that most of the students had been rescued but several gunmen remained at large inside the university.
Earlier, the police and army were exchanging gunfire with the attackers and several explosions were heard from the area of the university in the town of Charsadda, located some 21 miles outside the city of Peshawar. Earlier, the police and army were exchanging gunfire with the attackers and several explosions were heard from the area of the university in the town of Charsadda, located some 21 miles outside the city of Peshawar. 
Pakistani TV stations are broadcasting footage showing heavy military presence at the university, troops rushing in and people fleeing. Ambulances are at the scene and wounded are being taken to hospital.  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.
Police official Tariq Khan says the assault that began shortly after the university opened on Wednesday morning. “All students have been evacuated from the hostels, but militants are still hiding in different parts of the university and some students and staff are stuck inside,”Mr Wazir said.
He said it was unclear how many gunmen were involved.
The Pakistani military's media wing said the army had cordoned off the university with the militants inside and were carrying out air surveillance.
Television footage showed soldiers entering the campus as ambulances lined up outside the main gate and anxious parents consoled each other.
 
No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. 
Pakistan, which has suffered from years of militant violence, has killed and arrested hundreds of suspected militants under a major crackdown launched after a massacre of 134 school children in December 2014 in the northwest.
The Bacha Khan University is named after the founder of a liberal, anti-Taliban political party. Pakistani Taliban have in the past targeted the party for its anti-militant policies. The Bacha Khan University is named after the founder of a liberal, anti-Taliban political party. Pakistani Taliban have in the past targeted the party for its anti-militant policies. 
A Taliban attack on a school in Peshawar in December 2014 killed over 150 people, mostly children. The 2014 school attack by six gunmen believed linked to the Pakistani Taliban hit a raw nerve in Pakistan and was seen as having hardened Pakistan's resolve to fight jihadist militants along its lawless border with Afghanistan.
Vice Chancellor Fazal Rahim told reporters that the Bacha Khan University teaches over 3,000 students and hosted an additional 600 visitors on Wednesday for a poetry recital.
Shabir Khan, a lecturer in the English department, said he was about to leave the hostel 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.”