TERRORISM// At least 20 people were killed, including students and a professor, in an attack on the Bacha Khan University in northwest Pakistan on January 20, 2016. Attackers scaled a wall and cut through barbed wire at the university in Charsadda, about 140km from Islamabad, the capital city. Reports suggest the death toll could rise to as high as 40. All attackers were killed as the operations to clear the campus ended six hours after the attack began, leaving more than 50 people injured. Four gunmen were killed. The attackers entered the university building in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan and opened fire at students and teachers in classrooms and hostels. One faction of the Pakistan Taliban, the Dara Adma Khel splinter group, claimed responsibility for the attack. However, the chief of the Pakistan Taliban, Fazlullah, condemned the attack in a statement, adding that those using the group’s name would be brought to justice.

The university has more than 3,000 enrolled students and was hosting an additional 600 visitors for a poetry recital on the anniversary of the death of Pashtun activist Abdul Ghaffar “Bacha” Khan. As police and soldiers rushed to the campus, the attackers traded gunfire with the troops and several explosions were heard from the area of the university. The army said the attackers were contained in two university blocks before being killed.