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Pakistan Mourns, Buries Victims From University Attack
By RIAZ KHAN, ASSOCIATED PRESS
CHARSADDA, Pakistan — Jan 21, 2016, 5:01 AM ET
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The Associated Press
Pakistani women light candles during a vigil for victims of the Bacha Khan University attack, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2016 in Peshawar, Pakistan. Taliban gunmen stormed a university in northwestern Pakistan on Wednesday, killing many people and triggering an hours-long gun battle with the army and police before the military declared that the assault in a town near the city of Peshawar was over. (AP Photo/Mohammad Sajjad)more +
Pakistanis buried their dead and observed a day of nationwide mourning Thursday following the brazen attack by Islamic militants who stormed a northwestern university the previous day, gunning down students and teachers and spreading terror before the four gunmen were slain by the military.

Meanwhile, the death toll from the assault at Bacha Khan university in the town of Charsadda rose to 21, after another student died in hospital, said police official Tariq Khan.

Most of the victims were students and their families were inconsolable.

Two teachers were among the dead, including a chemistry professor who was praised as a hero for shooting back at the attackers and allowing some students to escape.

"My son was grown up, but still he was an innocent kid for me," said Gula Bibi, the mother of the second slain teacher, Iftikhar Ahmad, who was also the university librarian.

"My heart is breaking apart, I don't know what to do," she said.

The attack, which also wounded 22 students, raised grim echoes of the 2014 school massacre in the nearby city of Peshawar that left 150 dead, 144 of them children. It yet again raised questions about whether security forces are able to protect the country's educational institutions from extremists.

Flags on official buildings and the parliament were flying at half-staff and police stepped up security at schools and educational centers across the country.