Taliban Group Claims Responsibility For University Massacre

Jan 20, 2016, 3:27pm CT

Pakistani students lights candles for victims at Bacha Khan university following an attack, in Quetta on January 20, 2016. At least 21 people died in a Taliban assault on a university in Pakistan, where witnesses reported two large explosions as security forces moved in under dense fog to halt the bloodshed. (BANARAS KHAN/AFP/Getty Images)

Taliban Group Claims Responsibility For University Massacre

Jan 20, 2016, 3:27pm CT

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A Taliban group in northwestern Pakistan has claimed responsibility for the killing of more than 20 people, including students and professors, at the Bacha Khan University, 25 miles from Peshawar.

A different faction of the Taliban has responded by saying they were “disowning” the Taliban group behind the deadly attack, calling the shootings “un-Islamic.”

The region has been the target of a Taliban insurgency marked by killings and suicide bombings in recent years, though until this week, Pakistan’s army had been credited with a successful crack-down on local violence.

Here & Now‘s Robin Young talks with the BBC’s Shahzeb Jillani in Karachi.

Note: This BBC interview can be heard in the Here & Now podcast or with the WBUR app.

Guest

Shahzeb Jillani, BBC correspondent in Pakistan. He tweets @ShahzebJillani