After terrorists killed about 134 students at a school in northwestern Pakistan 13 months ago, officials started arming teachers and gave them weapons training.

Like the debate over guns in schools in the United States and elsewhere, the move was controversial and divided parents and academic officials. But a Pakistani teacher armed with a pistol is being credited with saving lives during a terrorist attack on Wednesday at Bacha Khan University in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

According to Agence France-Presse, Syed Hamid Husain, an assistant chemistry professor, pulled out his pistol and began firing at two of the attackers as they neared a classroom. But the 27-year-old teacher was outgunned by the militants, who were armed with assault rifles. After a gun battle, Husain was killed, students said.

Still, students at the college in Charsadda, about 30 kilometres from Peshawar, say Husain is hero. By pulling out his weapon, they told reporters, their teacher gave them time to escape.

“I saw a bullet hit him,” a student told AFP. “I saw two militants were firing. I ran inside and then managed to flee by jumping over the back wall.”

Read the article “Heroic Teacher Pulled Gun on Taliban, Allowing Students to Escape Pakistan University Terror Attack” on smh.com.au.