Using the cover of thick, wintry fog, terrorists scaled the walls of the Bacha Khan University in Charsadda, north western Pakistan, and killed at least 30 people. They engaged security forces in a two-hour gun battle and several explosions were heard.
Among those killed are students, security guards and at least one professor, Reuters reported. Four terrorists have been killed by security forces after the Army moved into the university, local media said.
Today is the 28th death anniversary of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, for whom the Bacha Khan University is named. The Pashtun leader fought for Independence in pre-Partition India and spent a lifetime advocating peace and non-violence.
A disciple and close friend of Mahatma Gandhi, Bacha Khan was also fondly called the "Frontier Gandhi."
Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan died while under house arrest in Peshawar on January 20, 1988, at the age of 98. He was buried in Afghanistan's Jalalabad, about 100 km west of Peshawar.
A year before he died, he was awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award.
Vice Chancellor Fazal Rahim told reporters today that the Bacha Khan University teaches over 3,000 students and hosted an additional 600 visitors on Wednesday for a poetry recital.