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Pakistan mourns, buries victims from university attack Pakistan university attack shatters dreams, stokes fear
(about 11 hours later)
CHARSADDA, Pakistan — Pakistanis buried their dead and observed a day of nationwide mourning Thursday following the brazen attack by Islamic militants who stormed a northwestern university the previous day, gunning down students and teachers and spreading terror before the four gunmen were slain by the military. CHARSADDA, Pakistan — When Islamic militants stormed the university campus in this Pakistani town, chemistry professor Hamid Hussain was carrying a concealed pistol. Locking his students in his classroom he opened fire on the assailants, buying his pupils enough time to escape before he was gunned down.
Meanwhile, the death toll from the assault at Bacha Khan university in the town of Charsadda rose to 21, after another student died in hospital, said police official Tariq Khan. The survival of Hussain’s students in a massacre that left 20 others dead is a legacy of a bloodbath that targeted another school in northwestern Pakistan two years earlier. After that 2014 attack, in which 150 people, mostly children, were killed, the government trained educators to carry concealed weapons so they could be a first line of defense — giving security forces time to react.
Most of the victims were students and their families were inconsolable. Hussain, the 32-year-old son of an impoverished shopkeeper who despite his humble heritage earned a PhD in chemistry in Britain, was praised as a hero Thursday for his quick action. His students managed to get away as he single-handedly took on the militants during the assault Wednesday that killed 19 students and another professor and wounded 22.
Two teachers were among the dead, including a chemistry professor who was praised as a hero for shooting back at the attackers and allowing some students to escape. Hussain was shot twice, once in the head and once in the chest, just above his heart. His brother, Ashfaq Hussain, noticed a cut on his elder sibling’s right hand — an injury, he suggested, that could have been caused when he tried to reload his 9mm pistol and a sign of his limited training.
“My son was grown up, but still he was an innocent kid for me,” said Gula Bibi, the mother of the second slain teacher, Iftikhar Ahmad, who was also the university librarian. In his home village of Swebi, Hussain’s relatives mourned the death of a loving family man who dreamed of touring the world. Hussain was the first in his family to finish secondary school, let alone university, and his father had scrimped and saved to fund his son’s studies.
“My heart is breaking apart, I don’t know what to do,” she said. Among the mourners was Hussain’s 3-year-old son, clutching a bag of multi-colored candies. Hussain had celebrated his son’s birthday just a few days earlier, inviting some of his students to the party.
The attack, which also wounded 22 students, raised grim echoes of the 2014 school massacre in the nearby city of Peshawar that left 150 dead, 144 of them children. It yet again raised questions about whether security forces are able to protect the country’s educational institutions from extremists. Wednesday’s attack raised grim echoes of the 2014 school massacre in the nearby city of Peshawar, raising questions about whether security forces are able to protect the country’s educational institutions from extremists.
Flags on official buildings and the parliament were flying at half-staff and police stepped up security at schools and educational centers across the country. A breakaway Taliban faction claimed responsibility for the assault — the same faction, headed by Khalifa Umar Mansoor, that claimed the Peshawar school assault.
In the Swiss resort of Davos, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said Thursday that his country is increasingly determined to fight extremism in the wake of the Charsadda attack. The university in Charsadda is named after one of Pakistan’s greatest secular leaders who often espoused communist philosophy, Abdul Ghaffar Khan, also known as Bacha Khan. The attack coincided with the 28th anniversary of Khan’s death on Jan. 20, 1988.
“Our resolve to fight against these elements is getting stronger every day,” he said, speaking at a debate moderated by The Associated Press at the World Economic Forum. Girls’ schools have been particularly vulnerable to extremists’ attempts to prevent Western-style education. Malala Yousafzai was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize after the teenager was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman in 2012 for her vocal support for gender equality and education for girls. She said she was “heartbroken” by Wednesday’s massacre.
Sharif said the attack was the result of “blowback” after Pakistani authorities’ efforts to dismantle extremists’ infrastructure and hideouts and insisted the extremists’ ”ability to strike back has been considerably destroyed” and “the terrorists are on the run.” In the Swiss resort of Davos, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said that his country was determined to fight extremism in the wake of the Charsadda attack. “Our resolve to fight against these elements is getting stronger every day,” he said, speaking at a debate moderated by The Associated Press at the World Economic Forum.
The army has been pounding militant hideouts in the tribal areas on the border with Afghanistan since June 2014, disrupting operations for the Pakistani Taliban militants. Because of that campaign, analysts say the extremists have turned to attacking soft targets such as schools. Sharif said the attack was the result of “blowback” from Pakistani authorities’ efforts to dismantle extremists’ infrastructure and hideouts. “The terrorists are on the run,” he contended. “Their ability to strike back has been considerably destroyed.”
A breakaway Taliban faction claimed responsibility for Wednesday’s assault — the same faction, headed by Khalifa Umar Mansoor, which had claimed the Peshawar school assault. The army has been pounding militant hideouts in the tribal areas on the border with Afghanistan since June 2014, disrupting operations for the Pakistani Taliban militants, who have been waging a war against the state for over a decade, killing tens of thousands. Because of that campaign, analysts say the extremists have turned to attacking soft targets such as schools.
The university in Charsadda is named after one of Pakistan’s greatest secular leaders who often espoused communist philosophy, Abdul Ghaffar Khan, also known as Bacha Khan. The attack coincided with the 28th anniversary of Bacha Khan’s death on Jan. 20, 1988. As families buried the dead on Thursday, Pakistanis observed a day of nationwide mourning, with flags on parliament and other official buildings flying at half-staff.
Most of the victims were buried quickly, according to Muslim tradition, with funerals overnight and early Thursday, said Khan, the police official. There was tight security at all Pakistani schools and educational institutions, where schoolbags were scanned and teachers and students checked before being allowed in.
Mohammad Khurasani. A spokesman for the main Taliban group in Pakistan disowned those behind the university attack, terming it “un-Islamic” and insisted the Pakistani Taliban were not behind it. Cricket legend-turned-politician Imran Khan, who heads the party that rules the northwestern provincial government, said it was impossible to provide police guards at every school or educational center. He said there are around 64,000 educational institutions in his province alone.
Wednesday’s violence yet again exposed the vulnerability of schools in Pakistan, where extremists have sought to prevent Western-style education, especially for girls. Khan added that there had been intelligence reports of a threat to schools some days earlier, although provincial Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak said the threats were never specific. He said the university administration refused a proposal of setting up a police checkpoint on the campus, but that police patrols toured there twice a day.
Malala Yousafzai was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize after the teenager was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman in 2012 outside her school in the Swat Valley because of her vocal support for gender equality and education for girls. She said she was “heartbroken” by the latest attack. He said the timely reaction of the police prevented the death toll rising even higher.
There was tight security all Pakistani schools and educational institutions Thursday, with schoolbags scanned and teachers and students checked before being allowed in. Several Pakistani opposition politicians criticized the government’s efforts to combat militancy. A National Action Plan was drawn up in the wake of the Peshawar school killing and included plans to set up counterterrorism cells and intelligence-sharing arrangements — neither of which has happened.
The Bacha Khan university remained closed and its vice chancellor Fazal-ur-Rahim Marwat said classes would resume Monday. Speaking in his home village, just after his brother’s funeral, Ashfaq Hussain’s sadness was tinged with frustration. “If people can stand up to take bullets to their chest, why can’t the government take action?” he said.
“We need time to clean the campus, make more security arrangement and boost the morale of the students and teachers,” he said.
Cricket legend-turned-politician Imran Khan, who heads the party that rules the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province where Charsadda is located, said it was impossible to provide police guards at every school or educational center.
There’re around 64,000 educational institutions in the province alone, he said, and defended measures already taken. The Bacha Khan university had 54 guards, he added — and still the attack happened.
“There were intelligence reports of a threat to schools some days ago,” he said. “We sent kids home that day. We took all possible measures.”
Also Thursday, Pakistani army chief, Gen. Raheel Sharif called Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah and the U.S. commander of NATO’s support mission in Afghanistan, Gen. John Campbell, to seek cooperation in “locating and targeting those responsible for this heinous act and bring them to justice.”
The Pakistani army has claimed the Charsadda attackers were managed by handlers across the border in Afghanistan. Militants in both countries regularly flee to safe havens across the inaccessible border.
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Associated Press Writers Asif Shahzad in Islamabad and Angela Charlton in Davos, Switzerland, contributed to this report. Shahzad reported from Islamabad. Associated Press Writer Angela Charlton in Davos, Switzerland, contributed to this report.
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.