Pakistan's Bacha Khan varsity briefly reopens, closes indefinitely

Peshawar: Amid tight security and special prayers, Bacha Khan University in northwestern Pakistan on Monday briefly reopened before closing down indefinitely, days after it was attacked by the Taliban, killing 21 people, mostly students.

Police said that Bacha Khan University (BKU) was reopened and additional security personnel have been deployed to take care of the university's security.

Classes started on Monday with special prayers for the victims. Other educational institutions in Charsadda, which closed in the wake of the attack, also reopened.

The university, however, was closed indefinitely later.

A university spokesman cited harsh weather conditions, repair and cleaning work for the closure.

The decision was taken at a meeting of faculty members that was chaired by the university's vice chancellor, he said.

It was also decided that the university should remain closed until a police check-post is setup on campus and teachers are provided licensed weapons, the spokesman said.

Several people held a peace march in Charsadda in the memory of the victims and to express the resolve not to be cowed down by the militants.

On Wednesday, four heavily-armed terrorists attacked BKU named after the iconic Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan in the volatile Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province which is located about 50 kilometres from Peshawar.

Authorities have arrested four facilitators who helped the attackers enter Pakistan and took them to Mardan city.

They had entered Pakistan from Afghanistan via the Torkhum border.

However, the main facilitator, "terrorist A", who received and made arrangements for the attackers at Torkhum border checkpost is still at large.

Officials have said that the attack on BKU was planned and controlled from Afghanistan as the phone call of commander Omer Mansoor, who later claimed responsibility, was made from Afghanistan.

The BKU assault came about an year after terrorists attacked an army-run school in Peshawar that killed nearly 150 people, most of them students.

The Pakistani military intensified an ongoing offensive, named operation Zarb-e-Azb, against extremists in the tribal areas after the 2014 attack.