'Any act of violence aimed at killing civilians is condemnable': Parrikar

Expressing his grief over the loss of lives in the terrorist attack on Bacha Khan University in Pakistan which left 21 people dead, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Thursday said that any act of violence aimed at killing civilians is 'condemnable'.

"Any act of violence and killing of civilians is condemnable. Even the Prime Minister has said this and I would also like to say that what happened there was bad," Parrikar said at a press conference here.

He also said that a committee to look into security preparedness of important defence installations has been formed post the Pathankot terrorist attack.

"The incident is being investigated by the NIA. We will do analysis of our responsibilities after NIA does its primary exercise. We have asked the in charge of all defence installations to make an assessment of their bases themselves and make immediate steps to ensure that weaknesses are blocked," he said.

"We have also constituted a team which will visit these installations and prepare an action plan for their security after discussing with commanders," he added.

The defence minister also mocked the postcard letter, supposedly sent by ISIS, threatening to kill Prime Minister Narendra Modi and him.

"On a 50 paisa post card..(laughs)," he said when asked about threats.

At least 21 people were killed and 30 injured in yesterday's attack on the university.

Four suspected attackers also died in a battle that lasted nearly three hours at Bacha Khan University in Charsadda.