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Attack on Pakistani police kills at least 11
Source: Agencies |
March 31, 2009, Tuesday
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Print Edition
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A GROUP of gunmen attacked a police academy yesterday in Lahore and held it for hours, seizing hostages, throwing grenades and killing at least 11 people before being overpowered by Pakistani commandos.
Six militants were arrested and eight died in the eight-hour battle to retake the compound on the outskirts of the eastern Pakistan city, said Rao Iftikhar, a top government official in Punjab province.
Officials said more than 90 officers were wounded and that some of the attackers wore police uniforms.
The highly coordinated attack on the Manawan Police Training School began as dozens of the officers carried out morning drills. About 700 trainees were inside at the time.
"We were attacked with bombs. Thick smoke surrounded us. We all ran in panic in different directions," said Mohammad Asif, a wounded officer taken to a hospital. He described the attackers as bearded and young.
TV footage showed several frightened police officers jumping over the wall of the academy to flee.
Some crouched behind the wall, their rifles pointed toward the parade ground where police said the attack took place. Farther back, masses of security forces and civilians monitored the tense standoff, taking shelter behind security and rescue vehicles.
The forces had surrounded the compound, exchanging fire in televised scenes reminiscent of the militant siege in the Indian city of Mumbai in November and the attack on Sri Lanka's cricketers earlier this month in Lahore.
Armored vehicles entered the compound while helicopters hovered overhead.
At one point, security forces cornered several militants on the top floor of a building on the compound, where the gunmen held about 35 hostages, Iftikhar said.
"The eight hours were like eight centuries," said Mohammad Salman, 23, one of the hostages. "It was like I died several times. I had made up my mind that it was all over."
Police captured one of the suspected gunmen six hours after the initial assault, dragging the scruffy, bearded man to a field outside the academy and kicking him.
Iftikhar confirmed that six militants were arrested. Of the eight dead, two blew themselves up, he said.
On the roof of the building where hostages were kept, an AP photographer saw body parts, blood and spent ammunition strewn about, and several police officers - apparently hostages - came out with their hands above their heads in fear.
No militant group immediately claimed responsibility, but Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik suggested it could have been Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a Punjab-based al-Qaida-linked terrorist group that has been implicated in several other attacks in the country.
Pakistan has endured scores of suicide bombings and other attacks in recent years, and it faces tremendous US pressure to eradicate al-Qaida and Taliban insurgents on its soil.
Officials said most of the violence occurs along the country's northwest border with Afghanistan, but attacks have occurred in all the major cities.
Yesterday's attack occurred close to the Indian border.
The attacks pose a major test for the weak, year-old civilian administration of Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, which has been gripped with political turmoil in recent weeks.
Lahore, considered by many to be Pakistan's cultural capital, has become an increasingly alluring target for militants. The cricket ambush in early March sparked a battle that left six police officers and a driver dead.
Six militants were arrested and eight died in the eight-hour battle to retake the compound on the outskirts of the eastern Pakistan city, said Rao Iftikhar, a top government official in Punjab province.
Officials said more than 90 officers were wounded and that some of the attackers wore police uniforms.
The highly coordinated attack on the Manawan Police Training School began as dozens of the officers carried out morning drills. About 700 trainees were inside at the time.
"We were attacked with bombs. Thick smoke surrounded us. We all ran in panic in different directions," said Mohammad Asif, a wounded officer taken to a hospital. He described the attackers as bearded and young.
TV footage showed several frightened police officers jumping over the wall of the academy to flee.
Some crouched behind the wall, their rifles pointed toward the parade ground where police said the attack took place. Farther back, masses of security forces and civilians monitored the tense standoff, taking shelter behind security and rescue vehicles.
The forces had surrounded the compound, exchanging fire in televised scenes reminiscent of the militant siege in the Indian city of Mumbai in November and the attack on Sri Lanka's cricketers earlier this month in Lahore.
Armored vehicles entered the compound while helicopters hovered overhead.
At one point, security forces cornered several militants on the top floor of a building on the compound, where the gunmen held about 35 hostages, Iftikhar said.
"The eight hours were like eight centuries," said Mohammad Salman, 23, one of the hostages. "It was like I died several times. I had made up my mind that it was all over."
Police captured one of the suspected gunmen six hours after the initial assault, dragging the scruffy, bearded man to a field outside the academy and kicking him.
Iftikhar confirmed that six militants were arrested. Of the eight dead, two blew themselves up, he said.
On the roof of the building where hostages were kept, an AP photographer saw body parts, blood and spent ammunition strewn about, and several police officers - apparently hostages - came out with their hands above their heads in fear.
No militant group immediately claimed responsibility, but Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik suggested it could have been Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a Punjab-based al-Qaida-linked terrorist group that has been implicated in several other attacks in the country.
Pakistan has endured scores of suicide bombings and other attacks in recent years, and it faces tremendous US pressure to eradicate al-Qaida and Taliban insurgents on its soil.
Officials said most of the violence occurs along the country's northwest border with Afghanistan, but attacks have occurred in all the major cities.
Yesterday's attack occurred close to the Indian border.
The attacks pose a major test for the weak, year-old civilian administration of Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, which has been gripped with political turmoil in recent weeks.
Lahore, considered by many to be Pakistan's cultural capital, has become an increasingly alluring target for militants. The cricket ambush in early March sparked a battle that left six police officers and a driver dead.
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