TTP managed Charsadda attack from Afghanistan: COAS

RAWALPINDI: Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif on Thursday said the armed attack on Bacha Khan University, Charsadda was managed from Afghanistan. 

According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) branch of the Pakistan Army, the COAS telephoned Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, chief executive Abdullah Abdullah and US commander in Afghanistan General John Campbell and shared information regarding Wednesday’s attack on the university in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The Pakistan Army Chief said an operative of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) issued instructions to the terrorists in Charsadda from a location in Afghanistan. 

The COAS sought cooperation of Afghanistan in tracing and hunting down the militants who perpetrated the deadly attack on Bacha Khan University, in which 21 people lost their lives, mostly students.

Hours after the attack on Wednesday, ISPR Director General Lieutenant General Asim Bajwa in a media briefing had shared that two cell phones which were in terrorists’ use had been seized. He said even after the terrorists were killed, one of the mobile phones was still getting calls from an Afghan SIM card. 

He said the gathered information confirms who the terrorists were and where they were operating from. He said more clues were being gathered from the seized cell phones.