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Pakistani University To Remain Closed After Attack


Guards outside the Bacha Khan University, in Charsadda on January 25.
Guards outside the Bacha Khan University, in Charsadda on January 25.

The Pakistani university where a splinter group of the Taliban gunned down 21 students and teachers last week will remain closed indefinitely until security is beefed up.

Students and staff of Bacha Khan University met on January 25, after briefly reopening the campus, to review security as at least 200 students protested outside to demand better security.

Staff said the school would remain closed until security was improved. One professor said some of his colleagues were demanding weapons for self-defense.

Militants from a Tehrik-e Taliban splinter group stormed the university in the northwestern town of Charsadda on January 20, setting off an hourslong gunbattle with security forces.

The attack revived memories of the December 2014 Taliban assault on a nearby army-run school in Peshawar, which killed some 150 people, nearly all of them children.

All four attackers who took part in the Charsadda assault were killed.

Over the weekend, authorities announced the arrest of five others suspected of involvement.

Based on reporting by Reuters and AP

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