Pakistan, Peshawar: On Wednesday, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Lt Gen Asim Bajwa said major breakthroughs had been made in identifying the terrorists who attacked the Bacha Khan University in Charsadda earlier in the day. The ISPR chief said the terrorists’ phone calls had been traced and analysed, and that two cell phones had also been recovered from them. He also said, “When army reached the premises, all four attackers were alive. They were contained in the hostel and were eventually eliminated on the roof and the stairs,” informed the ISPR chief. They had a lot of ammo, including grenades.

Gen also said, “Their call logs were analysed and an intelligence picture was established, with most data having been collected”. Bajwa also said forensics and fingerprints of the attackers had been shared with the National Database Registration Authority (Nadra), adding that “an intelligence picture is also being created with input from Nadra.” “We have gathered almost all relevant data on who they (attackers) were, from where they came and who supported them.”

But the ISPR chief said the information is “sensitive” and is being “processed and updated,” which will be shared with the public later. He maintained, “We cleared the sanctuaries of terrorists after which certain people crossed the border towards Afghanistan and are operating from there. That aspect is also under investigation”. Bajwa said terrorists were getting instructions from outside and were receiving calls. “They (terrorists) are targeting symbols of progress. We are fighting a war against faceless bastards (terrorists).”

The ISPR chief said, “As long as the facilitators and financiers of terrorists are present, they can carry out an attack at any place and time. What matters is how we respond to this as a nation.” He said,  Intelligence-based operations (IBOs) are being carried out to hunt down the facilitators of the terrorists involved in Charsadda attack. Earlier in the day, unidentified gunmen entered Bacha Khan University in Khyber Pakhtunkha’s Charsadda town and opened fire on students and faculty members as they gathered for a poetry recital to commemorate the death anniversary of the activist and leader Bacha Khan.

The mastermind of the APS Peshawar attack, Umar Mansoor, of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Geedar group has claimed the attack through a post on his Facebook page, adding that four attackers were sent to the university. However, a spokesperson from the TTP, Mohammad Khorasani, issued a conflicting statement shortly after Mansoor’s claim, in which Khorasani condemned the attack, terming it “against Shariah”. Khorasani also warned that those “using the naming of TTP will be brought to justice”.