Chemistry lecturer Syed Hamid Husain opened fire on militants who attacked Bacha Khan university in Pakistan, allowing his students to escape the massacre:
One student said: ‘We saw three terrorists shouting “Allah is great!” and rushing towards the stairs of our department.
‘One student jumped out of the classroom through the window. We never saw him get up.’
He described seeing Husain holding a pistol and firing at the attackers, adding: Then we saw him fall down and as the terrorists entered the (registrar) office we ran away.’
Geology student Zahoor Ahmed said Husain had warned him not to leave the building after the first shots were fired.
‘He was holding a pistol in his hand,’ he said. ‘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.’
‘They fired directly at’ the professor, sociology student Muhammad Daud said, describing Husain as ‘a real gentleman and a respectable teacher’.
Students and university officials paid tribute to the slain academic, saying he had been nicknamed ‘The Protector’ even before his death.
‘He would always help the students and he was the one who knew all their secrets because they would share all their problems with him,’ said 22-year-old geology student Waqar Ali. ‘He was referred to by students as “The Protector”.’