Armed militants storm university: At least 20 killed in Pakistan during horrific execution-style attack (WARNING: Graphic photos)

Why don't anti-terrorism crackdowns work?

Armed Taliban militants stormed Pakistan's Bacha Khan university in Charsadda, killing at least 20 people and wounding dozens more.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - "They came from behind and there was a big commotion," an unnamed male student told a news channel from a hospital bed in Charsadda's District Hospital. "We were told by teachers to leave immediately. Some people hid in bathrooms."

Officials expect the death toll to rise to at least 40 as they continue to search through the school's hostels and classrooms. Victims included security guards, teachers and students.

According to eye witnesses, several young men with AK-47's stormed the housing, where many students were sleeping. It is believed the militants used the day's fog to scale the walls of the university before entering the buildings.

During the violent attack, chemistry lecturer, Syed Hamid Hussain is remembered as fighting back to allow his students to run free.

"He was holding a pistol in his hand," explained Geology student Zahoor Ahmed. "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."

According to Reuters, many of those killed were shot in the head "execution style."

"We saw three terrorists shouting 'Allah is great!' and rushing towards the stairs of our department," expressed another student to television reporters. "One student jumped out of the classroom through the window. We never saw him get up."

Television footage captured army vehicles full of soldiers driving onto the campus, along with helicopters and ambulances. According to a senior security official, "90 per cent of the campus had been secured after a three-hour gunfight with the militants ended, and that 51 people were wounded and four gunmen were killed."

Other reports state it took nearly six hours after the attack for the school to be cleared out.

Although a senior Pakistani Taliban commander originally claimed responsibility for the violent and horrific attack, an official Taliban spokesman, Muhammad Khorasani, later denied any involvement, saying the attack was "un-Islamic."

"Youth who are studying in non-military institutions, we consider them as builders of the future nation and we consider their safety and protection our duty," Khorasani's statement said.

Whether it was the Taliban's planned attack, or another terrorist organization doesn't really matter to those who were savagely murdered. What Wednesday's violence really shows the world is that, despite Pakistan's country-wide anti-terrorism crackdown and military campaigns, such an assault was still possible; terrorism continues to thrive. Some believe this may be due to the fact that Pakistan borders Afghanistan. With Middle East migrants entering the West every day, it is not possible to track every terrorist intention - despite the best anti-terrorism programs.

"We are determined and resolved in our commitment to wipe out the menace of terrorism from our homeland," Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said in a statement after Wednesday's attack.

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