Peshawar, January 20

The Tehreek-i-Taliban Geedar group commander who claimed the deadly attack on Bacha Khan University in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Charsadda Wednesday is Umar Mansoor, the de facto operational head of TTP in KP.Journalist Hasan Abdullah tells Dawn.com Mansoor is the faction’s commander specifically in Charsadda, Darra Adam Khel, Noshera and surrounding areas. “He had been very close to Hakimullah Mehsud’s inner circle and was also close to Umar Khalid Khorasani at one time,” says Abdullah.He adds while he is said to have shifted to Afghanistan after Pakistan’s military operation in 2014, Mansoor is reported to have crossed into Pakistan at several points.A Reuters profile titled ‘Pakistan’s most hated man: volleyball player, child killer’ described Mansoor as a 37-year-old father of three and volleyball enthusiast who is nicknamed “Slim”.His real name is Umar Mansoor and is also claimed by TTP to be the mastermind of 2014’s massacre of 134 children and nine staff at a military-run school in Peshawar – the deadliest militant attack in Pakistan’s history.A video posted on a Taliban wesbite after the Army Public School attack showed a man with a chest-length beard, who sought to justify the December 16 attack. The caption identified him as Umar Mansoor. The Taliban said the APS attack, in which gunmen wearing suicide-bomb vests executed children, was retaliation for a military offensive carried out by the Pakistani army. Six Pakistani Taliban interviewed by Reuters confirmed the mastermind was Mansoor. Four of them said he is close to Mullah Fazlullah, the embattled leader of the TTP who ordered assassins to kill schoolgirl activist Malala Yousafzai. Mansoor got a high school education in the capital, Islamabad, two Taliban members said, and later studied in a madrassah. Mansoor has two brothers and spent some time working in the city of Karachi as a labourer before joining the Taliban soon after it was formed, in late 2007, said one commander.His nickname is “naray,” a word in the Pashto language meaning “slim”, and he is the father of two daughters and a son, said another commanders. The Taliban video describes him as the “amir”, or leader, of Peshawar and nearby Darra Adam Khel. Mansoor deeply opposes talks with the government, the commanders said.“He was very strict from the start when he joined,” a commander said. “He left many commanders behind if they had a soft corner (of their heart) for the government.”— By arrangement with the Dawn

Pak’s ‘most hated’ man

• Umar Mansoor, who claimed the deadly attack on Bacha Khan University in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Charsadda, is the de facto operational head of Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in KP province
• A Reuters profile titled ‘Pakistan’s most hated man: volleyball player, child killer’ described Mansoor as a 37-year-old father of three and volleyball enthusiast who is nicknamed “Slim”
• He is claimed by TTP to be the mastermind of 2014’s massacre of 134 children and nine staff at a military-run school in Peshawar – the deadliest militant attack in Pakistan’s history

‘Hero teacher’ goes down fighting militants

Peshawar, January 20

In a heroic act, a Pakistani chemistry professor in his 30s today lost his life while trying to protect his students using his licensed pistol against armed Taliban militants who stormed the university. Assistant professor Syed Hamid Hussain, 34, fought back against the terrorists as he warned students not to leave the building of the Bacha Khan university in Charsadda, some 50 km southwest of Peshawar.Students spoke of the hero teacher, who flashed his pistol but was gunned down by the militants besides 24 others, media reports said. 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 slogans and rushing towards the stairs of our department,” he said as he 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,” said the student.A traumatised sutdent said they saw several young men wielding AK-47 guns storming the university housing where many students were sleeping. They came from behind and there was a big commotion. We were told by teachers to leave immediately. Some people hid in bathroomsPresident Mamnoon Hussain confirmed Hamid was among the deceased and condoled his death.Netizens took to social networking sites like Twitter to hail the lecturer as a “martyr”. “Martyr of #education: Prof Hamid who was killed by terrorists in #BachaKhanUniversity #Pakistan,” tweeted journalist and academic Raza Ahmad Rumi.The official Facebook page of the university also said Hamid was among those killed. Teachers in northwest Pakistan were given permission to carry firearms in the classroom after the Peshawar school carnage of December 2014 in which Taliban militants killed over 150 people, mostly children. — PTI

Hailed as martyr

• Assistant professor Syed Hamid Hussain, 34, at Bacha Khan university in Charsadda fought back against the terrorists as he warned students not to leave the building after hearing the shots
• Students said the hero teacher flashed his pistol but was gunned down by the militants. Netizens took to social networking sites like Twitter to hail the lecturer as a “martyr”

OH PAKISTAN !

‘Four shot anyone, everyone they came across’

Peshawar, January 20

Ayat Ibrahim was entering the South Block of the Bacha Khan University on Wednesday morning when she heard the first of the gunshots and huge blasts. Initially, the student, in her late 20s, had no idea that the university, named after the iconic Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, was under terrorist attack. It took only a few seconds for Ibrahim to realise the horrific truth.“I saw people screaming and running here and there, and people sprawled on the ground,” the traumatized student told IANS in a telephonic interview from Peshawar.Authorities would later blame the carnage that left 20 people, including students, dead on the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which is at war with the Pakistani state. The TTP too claimed responsibility. “I couldn’t understand what was going on… And I could not see my friend who I had come to see,” she said. The attackers, four in all, opened indiscriminate fire at anyone and everyone they came across. They also hurled grenades, killing or wounding those trying to escape the bloodbath.There were some 3,000 students and staff in the university at the time of the attack besides about 600 guests. They had gathered in the campus for a poetry recital to commemorate the anniversary of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, popularly known as Bacha Khan.Ibrahim was stunned but did what many other students did at the spur of the moment – she ran towards the university buses parked in the vicinity. As the buses began to fill up, the drivers drove away the vehicles out of the campus at top speed, saving numerous lives.Ibrahim told IANS that she had no idea how many people had been killed. But she guessed it would be a large number.Soldiers rushed to the university and engaged the terrorists, triggering gun battles that lasted over five hours.They managed to kill all four attackers. But by then, the university — set up in July 2012 — was badly battered with 20 students, academics and other employees dead and dozens wounded. — IANS

University bus drivers saved many

• There were nearly 3,000 students and staff in Bacha Khan University at the time of the terror attack,besides about 600 guests. They had gathered onthe campus for a poetry recital to commemoratethe anniversary of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan,popularly known as Bacha Khan
• Ayat Ibrahim, a student, said she was stunned by the attack but did what many other students did at thespur of the moment — she ran towards the universitybuses parked in the vicinity. As the buses began tofill up, the drivers drove away out of the campus attop speed, saving numerous lives