Pakistan's Bacha Khan University To Reopen On Monday

Peshawar: Amid tight security, Pakistan's Bacha Khan University will reopen on Monday, nearly a month after Taliban militants stormed the varsity in the country's northwest and killed 21 people, mostly students.

The security committee of the university, after a thorough review, allowed the resumption of academic activities from February 15, Bacha Khan University's (BKU) spokesperson Saeed Khan said.

However, students and staff will not use university transport, he added.

Charsadda District Police Officer Sohail Khan also said security clearance had been given to the BKU, adding that eight policemen will be stationed on the university premises and a mobile van will be deployed outside.

Two women university employees will also be tasked with keeping an eye on female students, he said.

Earlier, on January 25, the BKU briefly reopened before closing down indefinitely.

On January 20, 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 a 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.