Security forces have
ended a gun and bomb attack on a university in north-west Pakistan in which 19
people were killed and 17 injured.
Four suspected attackers also died in a battle that
lasted nearly three hours at Bacha Khan University in Charsadda.
One Pakistani Taliban commander said the group had
carried out the assault, but its main spokesman denied this.
The attackers struck at around 09:30 local time
(04:30 GMT), apparently climbing over a back wall under cover of the thick
winter fog. Intense gunfire and explosions were heard as security guards fought
the attackers.
Students and staff ran to find cover in toilets and
examination halls.
One student told television reporters he was in
class when he heard gunshots: "We saw three terrorists shouting, 'God is
great!' and rushing towards the stairs of our department.
"One student jumped out of the classroom
through the window. We never saw him get up."
Reports say a chemistry lecturer, named by media as
Syed Hamid Husain, shot back at the gunmen to allow his students to flee,
before he was killed.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said in a statement
said: "We are determined and resolved in our commitment to wipe out the
menace of terrorism from our homeland."
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