Pak arrests 4 behind varsity attack

Four persons have been arrested in Pakistan for facilitating the deadly Taliban attack on a prestigious university in the country’s northwest that killed 21 people, mostly students, the military announced today.

“We have arrested four facilitators who helped the attackers enter Pakistan and took them to Mardan before attack on Bacha Khan university in Charsadda district,” Director General Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) Lt Gen Asim Bajwa said.

On Wednesday, four heavily-armed terrorists attacked the Bacha Khan University named after the iconic Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan in the volatile Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province. The attackers had entered Pakistan from Afghanistan via the Torkhum border, Bajwa said. According to Bajwa, the main facilitator — “terrorist A” — who received and made arrangements for the attackers at Torkhum border checkpost is still at large.

The arrested men helped militants purchase their weapons in the country’s tribal belt and relied on women close to the accused to help smuggle guns.

“Women wearing traditional veils do not usually undergo a routine body search at the checkpoints,” said Bajwa.