Students recall how Hussain fired at gunmen, giving them time to flee
CHARSADDA: A chemistry teacher, who tried to protect his students by opening fire on Taliban militants during a deadly attack at a university in Pakistan on Wednesday, has been hailed as a “martyr” and a “gentleman”. At least 21 people were killed in the attack.
Lecturer Syed Hamid Husain, an assistant professor at the Bacha Khan University in Charsadda, ordered his students to stay inside as Taliban gunmen stormed the school near the city of Peshawar.
Students recalled how the professor opened fire at the gunmen as they rampaged across the campus, giving students the time to flee before their teacher was gunned down.
“We saw three terrorists. They were shouting, ‘Allah is great’ and rushing towards the stairs of our department,” one of the students who escaped, said.
“A student jumped out of the classroom through the window. We never saw him get up.”
Geology student Zahoor Ahmed said Husain had warned him not to leave the building after the first shots were heard. “He was holding a pistol. I saw two militants firing at him and I saw a bullet hit him. I ran inside and managed to flee by jumping over the back wall,” he said.
“They fired directly at the professor,” sociology student Muhammad Daud said, describing Husain as “a real gentleman and a respectable teacher”.
Tributes were paid to the slain academic on Twitter.
“Martyr of #education: Prof Hamid was killed by terrorists in #BachaKhan University#Pakistan,” tweeted journalist Raza Ahmad Rumi.
Pakistan’s President Mamnoon Hussain confirmed the lecturer’s death and expressed condolences to his family.
Security officials said the operation went on for several hours. The military said it had killed four extremists. However, it is unclear whether this figure has been added to the death toll.
The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attack.
Teachers in northwest Pakistan were given permission to carry firearms to the classroom after Taliban militants massacred more than 150 people, majority of them children, at a school in Peshawar in 2014.
The attack on an army-run school in the city, some 50 kilometres (30 miles) from Charsadda, was the deadliest in Pakistan’s history. It saw heavily armed militants go from room to room slaughtering students and staff.