Pakistan University Attack: Gunmen Storm Bacha Khan University In Charsadda, Explosions Heard

UPDATE: 5:00 a.m. EST — Education institutions in Charsadda district in northwestern Pakistan will remain closed till Jan. 31 after the deadly attack on Bacha Khan University Wednesday, according to local reports. Gunmen launched the attack in the university killing at least 21 people.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Army Chief of Staff Gen. Raheel Sharif arrived at the university to oversee clearance operation, Afghanistan’s TOLO News channel reported.

UPDATE: 4:26 a.m. EST — A spokesman for Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan has reportedly refuted claims that the group was responsible for the attack Wednesday on Bacha Khan University, which claimed several lives, including that of teachers and students.

UPDATE: 3:45 a.m. EST — Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ordered three federal ministers to visit Charsadda where gunmen attacked a university Wednesday, killing at least 21 people, Asian News International reported. Students, guards, policemen and at least one professor were among the dead.

Security officials estimated the death toll from the attack at Bacha Khan University could rise as high as 40, Reuters reported.

UPDATE: 2:27 a.m. EST — The death foll from the attack at Bacha Khan University in northwestern Pakistan Wednesday rose to 21, Agence France Presse reported, citing police who said the rescue operation had ended.

UPDATE: 2:05 a.m. EST — Four gunmen involved in the attack on Bacha Khan University in Charsadda, Pakistan, were killed by security forces Wednesday, an army spokesman announced on Twitter.

At least eight people have been killed in the attack and rescue officials expect the death toll to rise. Meanwhile, Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif condemned the attack. "We are determined and resolved in our commitment to wipe out the menace of terrorism from our homeland," Sharif said, according to local media.

UPDATE: 1:53 a.m. EST — Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has claimed responsibility for the Wednesday attack on a university in the volatile northwestern Pakistan, media reports said, citing sources.

Meanwhile, rescue officials said that at least five people were killed in the attack on Bacha Khan University. However, it was unclear if the two gunmen killed in the attack were among the five dead.

UPDATE: 1:14 a.m. EST — Two of the gunmen who stormed a university in volatile northwestern Pakistan have been killed by police, Reuters reported. A gunfight between the militants and police forces is still underway.

Authorities said about 50 students had been rescued from the university, according to Agence France-Presse. A rescue official quoted a student saying that more than 60 students had been shot in the head, reported Dawn, a local newspaper. However, the claim could not be confirmed.

Original story:

Gunmen on Wednesday attacked a university in Charsadda in northwestern Pakistan, local media reports said. Two explosions were heard during the attack at the Bacha Khan University, Reuters reported, citing police.

Vice Chancellor Fazal Raheem told local media that around 3,000 students studied at the university in the country's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. According to local reports, 3 gunmen are hiding in the campus and a gunbattle is underway.

According to Guardian, the gunmen opened fire on students and teachers in classroom and hostels.

“Gunmen have entered the university campus from the southern side,” Raheem said, according to the Guardian, adding that the injured included a university guard and two civilians. “There are male and female staff members and students on the campus,” he added.

This is a developing story.