Unidentified gunmen entered Bacha Khan University in Khyber Pakhtunkha’s Charsadda town Wednesday and opened fire on students and faculty members as they gathered at the school for a poetry recital to commemorate the death anniversary of the activist and leader whom the school is named after, Dawn News reported.

The mastermind of the APS Peshawar attack, Omar Mansoor, of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has claimed the attack through a post on his Facebook page.

“The death toll in the terrorist attack has risen to 21,” regional police chief Saeed Wazir said without specifying if that included the four militants the army stated it had killed.

He said the operation had ended and security forces were clearing the area, with most of the student victims shot dead at a hostel for boys on the campus.

Source: MENA