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Pakistan arrests five over deadly attack on Bacha Khan university Pakistan arrests five over deadly attack on Bacha Khan university
(about 2 hours later)
Five suspects have been arrested following an attack on a university in Pakistan that left 21 people dead. The attack on a university in north-west Pakistan on Wednesday was masterminded by a Taliban leader in Afghanistan, the Pakistan army said on Saturday.
A Pakistani army spokesman said the military had made the arrests on charges of facilitating the assault on Bacha Khan university in Charsadda on Wednesday. General Asim Bajwa said the militants who stormed Bacha Khan university in Charsadda, killing at least 20 people, were trained in Afghanistan and crossed into Pakistan.
Students and teachers died in the attack, which triggered a gunbattle that lasted for about six hours. Five suspects were arrested in Pakistan on Saturdayn on charges of aiding the militantss who carried out the killings.
The four attackers were killed in clashes with security forces at the university.
Bajwa said those arrested had provided the attackers with shelter, transport and weapons.
Another three suspects, including two women, were still at large, he said. The women are accused by buying weapons for the militants in the tribal region of Dara Adam Khel.
Related: Pakistan attacks: at least 30 dead in terror raid at Bacha Khan UniversityRelated: Pakistan attacks: at least 30 dead in terror raid at Bacha Khan University
Lt Gen Asim Salim Bajwa said those arrested had provided the attackers with shelter, transport and weapons. “The two women took advantage of the culture and used their veils to bring out the purchased weapons from the tribal region,” Bajwa said.
Another three suspects, including two women, were still at large, he said. Students and teachers died in the attack, which triggered a fierce gunbattle that lasted for about six hours.
A Taliban splinter group claimed responsibility and has threatened similar attacks. The main Taliban organisation denied any involvement. The Pakistan army spokesman said the attack was masterminded by Umar Mansoor, a Pakistani Taliban militant based in Afghanistan.
The assault came 14 months after gunmen affiliated with the Pakistani militant group Tehreek-e-Taliban attacked an army school in Peshawar, killing 132 children. Pakistani officials say he was also responsible for the December 2014 massacre of 134 children at an army school in Peshawar, the worst such atrocity in Pakistan’s history.
Since then, Pakistan has killed and arrested hundreds of suspected militants under a counter-terrorism plan enacted in the wake of the massacre. On Friday Mansoor released video of the fighters he said carried out the university attack and vowed to carry out more assaults attacks on educational facilities.
Pakistan’s prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, said after the attack: “We are determined and resolved in our commitment to wipe out the menace of terrorism from our homeland.” Afghan officials regard Pakistan’s suggestion that Kabul supports cross-border attacks as an attempt to deflect attention from what they say is Pakistan’s long history of supporting the Taliban.
Bajwa clarified that the Pakistan government was not blaming the Afghan government for the attack.
Pakistan has killed and arrested hundreds of suspected militants under a counter-terrorism plan enacted in the wake of the Peshawar school massacre.
Pakistan’s prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, said after that attack: “We are determined and resolved in our commitment to wipe out the menace of terrorism from our homeland.”