Four attackers used guns and bombs to kill at least 21 students and teachers Wednesday morning at Bacha Khan University in northwest Pakistan.
Officials say many more were wounded.
Police say the four attackers entered the university in Charsadda at around nine in the morning and began shooting students and teachers. Students and university workers told a VOA correspondent at the university that some of those killed or wounded were both shot and stabbed.
Police official Saeed Wazir Khan said at least two of the attackers were suicide bombers.
A spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban denied responsibility for the attack. Mohammad Khorasani said the group does not target non-military organizations.
But earlier, a Taliban commander in the area said he sent the four attackers to the university.
A Pakistani military spokesman said troops killed the four attackers and took control of the university.
About 3,000 students attend the university.
Charsadda is about 50 kilometers from the provincial capital, Peshawar. In December 2014, militants linked to the Pakistani Taliban attacked a school in Peshawar and killed 150 people, most of them children.
I’m Christopher Jones-Cruise.
Reporters Ayesha Tanzeem and Ayaz Gul prepared stories on the attack for VOANews. Christopher Jones-Cruise adapted their stories for Learning English. Kathleen Struck was the editor.
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Words in This Story
spokesman – n. a person who speaks for someone else or for a group
provincial – adj. of or concerning a province (an area outside the capital or a city)