Student recalls how he wrestled with terrorist

Students were woken up by gunshots, they didn’t panic but decided to wait inside their room to respond accordingly

PESHAWAR: Students at the Agriculture Training Institute may be teenagers, but they have brave hearts. And they proved this when terrorists went on a deadly rampage at their hostel on Friday morning.

Most of the 400-plus resident students had gone home as the institute was closed for the long holiday weekend. Those who decided to stay were sleeping in their hostel rooms.

In a purported video footage of the attack, the terrorists could be seen moving room to room and firing randomly inside.

Iftikhar* and his three roommates were woken up by the crackle of gunshots. They didn’t panic. They didn’t run. They decided to wait inside their room and respond according to the situation.

“One terrorist reached our room. He flung open the door and barged in. We quickly grabbed his gun. He [terrorist] was taken aback by the unexpected resistance – but then he started to wrestle to wriggle out of our hold,” recalled the 22-year-old student in a police statement recorded after the gruesome assault.

“The terrorist had a muscular body. Realising that he would soon wriggle out of our hold, my roommates slipped out of the room, leaving me alone to wrestle with him,” he stated.



“I didn’t give up. I knew that if the terrorist got control of his gun, I’d be dead,” the brave survivor said. “At that point in time the terrorist bit me on the thumb of my left hand in a desperate attempt to wrench back his AK-47.”

Iftikhar, according to the police report, shoved the terrorist to release his thumb from his mouth and ran outside. “Luckily, police commandos reached the site before the terrorist could come out to chase me. They gunned him down before he could react.”

Iftikhar was driven to the Hayatabad Medical Complex where, according to medics, he was discharged after first aid.

*Name has been change to protect identity