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Pakistani forces claim victory in police academy shootout
Pakistan security forces claimed victory Monday over gunmen who stormed a police academy and unleashed a fierce firefight in which eight police recruits and four attackers died. Television footage showed troops on a rooftop of the main building at the camp near the eastern city of Lahore cheering and firing into the air in joy after a gun battle that lasted half a day.At least three bearded men put up their hands and surrendered to the small group of security forces and commandos on the rooftop. Interior ministry chief Rehman Malik said four "terrorists" had been killed and others arrested following the nearly eight-hour siege. "It [was] a planned, organized, terrorist attack. This shows the extent to which the enemies of our country can go," Malik said. The attack echoed a brazen March 3 assault in the same area on Sri Lanka's cricket team, underscoring the scale of the militant unrest that US President Barack Obama has called a "cancer" that risks killing Pakistan. Armed with grenades and assault weapons, the attackers shot their way into the camp in what one wounded survivor said was an attempt to kill as many people as possible. Television showed bodies of policemen lying face down on the parade ground, rescuers hurrying casualties away on stretchers, as gunfire and blasts rattled round the compound at Manawan. Officials said the assailants were masked and some were in police uniform, with others in civilian clothes and carrying sports bags. "They directly targeted us. Suddenly there were bodies all around me," one wounded policeman said on Geo television from his hospital bed. As the day wore on, security forces took up position on nearby rooftops and fired on the police compound. Helicopters dropped Special Forces members and hovered above the training facility. One chopper was fired upon, without apparent damage. At one stage at least three loud explosions were heard from inside followed by a flash of light and intense gunfire. Initial estimates on the death toll varied. Security officials told AFP under condition of anonymity that 25 people were dead, while a police officer at the scene put the figure at a minimum of 20. Health ministry official Mohammad Tariq would confirm only six fatalities, but said more than 100 were injured. "This is not the final figure and we don't know if there are bodies inside the training school," he told AFP. Police said they arrested a suspect who was found with a hand grenade at a cemetery close to a nearby helipad. Salman Taseer, the governor of Punjab province which includes Lahore, said there were eight to 10 attackers, although other officials cited up to 12 and witness accounts said five or six initially blew their way inside. "Four people started firing, and others went into the building," he said. "They were wearing masks. They changed and refilled their magazines." Malik suggested home-grown terror movements were to blame. "The question is - from where they are getting grenades, guns and rocket launchers in such a large number?" he told Geo. The latest attack follows the coordinated assault on the Sri Lankan cricket team, which also involved multiple gunmen with grenades and assault rifles. Eight Pakistanis were killed and seven Sri Lankan squad members injured - but their assailants walked away. Officials said it bore the hallmarks of the November 2008 siege in India's financial capital of Mumbai, blamed on Pakistani militants, which killed 165 people. Indian officials condemned the latest attack, saying it threatened security across the region and its military was on alert for any "spillover." "We are deeply concerned. We condemn these terror attacks, we condemn all terror attacks and we offer our sympathies to the government and the people of Pakistan," Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram told reporters. Posted by: Fred 2009-03-31 |
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