PESHAWAR - Hours after the militant attack at Bacha Khan University in Charsadda, Pakistan Army claimed breakthrough in identifying the terrorists involved in the attack.
“We are in hold of information, confirming who the terrorists were and where they were operating from,” said ISPR Director General Lt-Gen Asim Bajwa told the media yester night about the morning assault, which was claimed by a splinter group of Pakistani Taliban and disclaimed by the central leadership of the banned organisation.
The head of ISPR said there were a total of four terrorists who were contained and killed. "When army reached the premises, all four attackers were alive. They were contained in the hostel and were eventually eliminated on the roof and the stairs." They had a lot of ammo, including grenades, he added.
He said the terrorists' phone calls had been traced and analysed, and that two cell phones had also been recovered from them. More clues were being gathered from the seized mobile phones, he said, adding, "We also have information from where the instructions to the terrorists were being made."
"Their call logs were analysed with most data having been collected," said Lt-Gen Bajwa. He said forensics and fingerprints of the attackers had been shared with the National Database Registration Authority (Nadra), adding that "an intelligence picture is also being created with input from Nadra."
"We have gathered almost all relevant data on who they (attackers) were, from where they came and who supported them." But the ISPR chief said the information is "sensitive" and is being "processed and updated", which will be shared with the public later.
“We cleared the sanctuaries of terrorists after which certain people crossed the border towards Afghanistan and are operating from there. That aspect is also under investigation,” he maintained.
"They (terrorists) are targeting symbols of progress. We are fighting a war against faceless (terrorists)." The ISPR chief said, “As long as the facilitators and financiers of terrorists are present, they can carry out an attack at any place and time. What matters is how we respond to this as a nation.”
Bajwa said terrorists were getting instructions from outside and were receiving calls. Intelligence-based operations (IBOs) are being carried out to hunt down the facilitators of the terrorists involved in Charsadda attack, he said.