By Isambard Wilkinson in Islamabad
Last Updated: 6:32AM BST 30 Mar 2009
Police said between 20 and 25 gunmen, dressed as police officers, were involved in the attack. Details were still emerging, but it appeared the gunmen had taken several of the 500 trainees hostage within the Manawan centre's mosque.
The attack is the latest in a wave of violence against Pakistani security personnel less than a month after the deadly ambush of Sri Lanka's cricket team in the same city, Lahore.
An intelligence officer said 10 people had been killed and 50 wounded.
The attack occurred as dozens of police officers carried out morning drills.
Television news footage showed police officers and paramilitary rangers surrounding the parameter wall of the training centre.
A police armoured personnel carrier (APC) entered the compound and an exchange of fire, including what appeared to be a grenade explosion, broke out. The APC then withdrew.
Police officers sprayed the compound with sporadic, poorly-directed rifle rounds.
The attack came as Pakistan has become the centre of world attention, following President Barack Obama's new strategy to combat militancy in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
"It is a complete panic here. We do not have any idea how many the attackers are, and how many of them are dead, or hiding in nearby buildings," said police officer, Syed Ahmad. "We are fighting them."
Most of the attacks have been centred in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province.
However, in early March, a group of gunmen ambushed the visiting cricket team in a city square, sparking a battle that left six police officers and a driver dead and wounded several of the players.
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Militants storm Pakistani police centre
30 Mar 2009 07:00:44 GMT
Source: Reuters
(For a related FACTBOX click on [nSP461671]) (Adds quotes, details)
By Mohsin Raza
LAHORE, Pakistan, March 30 (Reuters) - Militants holed up in a police training centre in the Pakistani city of Lahore on Monday after storming the building, with estimates of the dead ranging up to 20.
Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik said 52 police were wounded in the attack but gave no word on the number killed, while Geo News television channel said the toll was 20.
Paramilitary troops laid siege, firing from rooftops of surrounding buildings, while the gunmen returned fire and threw grenades to keep the police at bay.
"Our elite squad has surrounded the area. God willing, now we will get into the building," Mushtaq Sukhera, senior police official told journalists at the scene.
"I have counted 12 bodies but I dont know exactly how many have been killed," Mohammad Raza, another police officer said.
One wounded policeman said there were 15 to 20 gunmen in the building. It was unclear if any police were being held hostage.
The assault came less than a month after a dozen gunmen attacked Sri Lanka's cricket team in the city, killing six police guards and a bus driver. Those gunmen escaped.
The latest brazen attack will inevitably heighten fears about the mounting insecurity in nuclear-armed Pakistan.
Islamist militants have launched a campaign of violence to destabilise the Muslim state of 170 million people, and the one-year-old civilian government's ability to meet the challenge.
U.S. President Barack Obama made support for President Asif Ali Zardari's government a centrepiece of a review of policy towards Afghanistan and Pakistan that was announced on Friday, and which made annihilation of al Qaeda the United States' principle objective.
ATTACKED DURING MORNING DRILL
Police official Sukhera said around 850 young cadets attended the training centre but police were unsure how many were inside at the time of the attack, which began at around 7 a.m. (0200 GMT).
Television channels said several hundred trainees were at the centre when the attackers, some dressed as policemen, struck.
"Some gunmen entered the centre, threw hand grenades and then started firing," said an intelligence agency official who declined to be identified.
Around 15 to 20 attackers were believed to be inside the training centre, a policeman told Geo News television channel while having his head bandaged.
The training centre is on the outskirts of the city, on the road to the nearby border with India.
"The gunmen attacked police recruits from four sides when they were doing their routine morning drills," said a police officer at the scene.
A police armoured personnel carrier (APC) entered the compound and an exchange of fire, including what appeared to be a grenade explosion, broke out, a Reuters photographer at the scene said. The APC then withdrew.
One television station showed pictures of about a dozen police lying on a parade ground. Some appeared to be lifeless while others were crawling to cover.
An army helicopter circled overhead, and police and soldiers were seen carrying wounded to ambulances.
Militant violence has surged in Pakistan since mid-2007, with numerous attacks on the security forces and government and Western targets.
Most of the violence has been in the northwest, in areas along the Afghan border, but there have been attacks in all main cities.
Despite the violence in Lahore, Pakistani stocks <.KSE> and the rupee
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Pakistani commandos end academy siege, kill militants
30 Mar 2009 12:33:08 GMT
Source: Reuters
* Pakistani police say academy siege over
* Four militants killed, three arrested
* Police chief says eight cadets killed, scores wounded
* Ten hostages rescued
By Kamran Haider
LAHORE, Pakistan, March 30 (Reuters) - Pakistani security forces took control of a police academy in Lahore on Monday after militants rampaged through the complex, killing at least eight cadets and wounding scores before holing up inside for hours.
"The operation is over. Four terrorists were killed and three arrested," Interior Ministry Secretary Kamal Shah told Reuters. Shah said 89 policemen were wounded.
Punjab police chief Khawaja Khalid Farooq said at least eight recruits were killed though there had been reports the toll would be higher as there were 900 cadets in the academy at the time of the attack.
Three of the militants blew themselves up during the final assault, and commandos rescued 10 police being held hostage.
Television news channels showed jubilant police shouting praise to Allah, making victory signs with their hands, and firing in the air in celebration minutes after a fierce firefight inside the main academy building.
The latest brazen attack will heighten fears about mounting insecurity in nuclear-armed Pakistan. The assault came less than a month after gunmen attacked Sri Lanka's cricket team in Lahore, killing six police guards and a bus driver. Those gunmen escaped.
Islamist militants have launched a campaign of violence to destabilise the Muslim nation of 170 million people, and the one-year-old civilian government's ability to meet the challenge.
U.S. President Barack Obama made support for President Asif Ali Zardari's government a centrepiece of a review of policy towards Afghanistan and Pakistan that was announced on Friday.
The principle objective of Obama's strategy is the annihilation of al Qaeda in the two countries.
Salman Taseer, governor of Punjab province, said authorities had reports of four people confirmed killed, although television news channels put the number of dead at 20, including cadets.
One wounded policeman described how the attackers struck while police recruits were going through their regular morning drill on the parade ground in the eastern city.
"A grenade hit the platoon next to ours ... then there was continuous firing for about 20 minutes," the policeman told reporters gathered round his hospital bed.
"A man in light-coloured clothes -- I think they were white -- stood in front of us, firing at us. They wanted to do as much damage as possible."
One witness told Reuters the gunmen attacked in groups of three or four from all sides.
EIGHT-HOUR SIEGE
Some eight to 10 militants attacked the recruits as they performed a regular drill on the parade ground at around 7:30 a.m (0230 GMT), and then went on to occupy the academy's main building.
Another wounded policeman recounted how he escaped when the gunmen burst into a room and began firing indiscriminately.
"I jumped from the second floor," he said. "There were dead bodies all over the place."
Just before 4 p.m., commandos launched an operation to retake the building, according to Major-General Shafqaat Ali, who described it as a joint operation by the army, paramilitary rangers and a crack police squad.
"Our forces stormed the top floor where they were holding positions," Major-General Ali said.
"The operation is over the building is in our control."
The siege had lasted nearly eight hours, with security forces firing from rooftops of nearby buildings, while gunmen returned fire and threw grenades, at one point forcing an armoured personnel carrier to retreat.
Before the siege ended, the police chief said one of the suspected attackers had been caught. Footage showed police kicking a bearded man on the ground before leading him through a throng of journalists.
Reports said the suspect was caught with a grenade in his possession and had an Afghan passport, though a cadet who fled the carnage said he heard the attackers speaking a dialect common to southern Punjab. Lahore is the capital of Punjab province.
If those accounts are correct it would point to a nexus between militants from Afghan border areas in the northwest and Punjabi jihadi groups, like Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, that have forged ties with al Qaeda.
LeJ was implicated in several assassination attempts on Pakistan's former president, General Pervez Musharraf, and was blamed for a suicide bomb attack on the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad last September.
Despite the attack in Lahore, Pakistani stocks <.KSE> and the rupee
Militant violence has surged in Pakistan since mid-2007, with attacks on security forces and government and Western targets.
While there have been attacks in all Pakistan's big cities, most violence has been in the northwest, near the Afghan border. (For related FACTBOXES click [ID:nSP461671] and [ID:nLU261211], for additional Pakistan and Afghanistan stories see [ID:nSP437509]) (Additional reporting by Mohsin Raza, Robert Birsel and Zeeshan Haider; Writing by Simon Cameron-Moore, Editing by Jeremy Laurence)
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