The number of dead climbed rapidly after armed men stormed the Bacha Khan University in Charsadda, about 30 miles from the city of Peshawar
At least 21 people have died in a Taliban assault on a university in Pakistan, where witnesses reported at least two large explosions as security forces moved in under dense fog to halt the bloodshed.
The number of dead climbed rapidly after armed men stormed the Bacha Khan University in Charsadda, about 30 miles from the city of Peshawar, in the latest outrage to hit the militant-infested region.
Police, soldiers and Special Forces swarmed the university from the ground and the air in a bid to shut down the assault.
"The death toll in the terrorist attack has risen to 21," regional police chief Saeed Wazir told news agency AFP hours after the alarm was first raised. He said most of the student victims were shot dead at a hostel for male students.
Students spoke of one hero teacher -- named by local media as Syed Hamid Hussain -- fighting back against the intruders, shooting his weapon in a bid to protect his charges.
Geology student Zahoor Ahmed said his chemistry lecturer had warned him not to leave the building after the first shots were fired.
"He was holding a pistol in his hand," he said.
"Then I saw a bullet hit him. I saw two militants were firing. I ran inside and then managed to flee by jumping over the back wall."
Another student told television reporters he was in class when he heard gunshots.
"We saw three terrorists shouting, 'Allah is great!' and rushing towards the stairs of our department," he said.
"One student jumped out of the classroom through the window. We never saw him get up."
He also described seeing the chemistry professor holding a pistol and firing at the attackers.
"Then we saw him fall down and as the terrorists entered the (registrar) office we ran away."
Pakistan's President Mamnoon Hussain confirmed the lecturer, Dr Hamid, had died.
The attack had echoes of a Taliban assault on an army-run school in Peshawar in December 2014 that killed more than 150 people, most of them children.