Militants launched a series of co-ordinated strikes against police facilities in Lahore today, killing dozens of people and plunging the Pakistani city into chaos.
Attackers armed with weapons and suicide jackets attacked the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) headquarters in the city centre and two police training centres on the outskirts just after 9am, as a suicide bomber struck in the North-West Frontier province. At least 38 people are reported to have died.
Today's events mark the sixth terrorist spectacular in Pakistan in 11 days, following attacks on United Nations offices and the army headquarters, underscoring fears for the country's stability. It is believed to be the first Mumbai-style attacks on Pakistan, involving co-ordinated attacks on multiple targets.
"The enemy has started a guerrilla war," the interior minister, Rehman Malik, told a television station.
In the attack on the FIA building at least four gunmen forced their way into the offices in the city centre, where about 50 officials were stranded on the first floor. After a 45-minute gun battle, seven people were dead, including at least four police officers. By mid-morning authorities said the situation was in hand.
Last year the same building was devastated by a suicide truck bomb that killed at least 19 people.
The second target hit today, the Munawan police training centre, was the subject of a militant attack last March. This morning a team of gunmen entered the complex in an attack which killed nine police officers and four militants, according to police and hospital reports. One of the gunmen was killed by police and three more blew themselves up, officials said.
Seven people were reported to have died at the Elite police training school, located among rice fields on the edge of the city, in an attack which lasted several hours. Major General Muhammad Shafqaat, commanding officer of the 10th division of the Pakistan army, said five attackers scaled a boundary wall where they were immediately confronted by guards.
One of the five was shot dead, Shafqaat said, while another was wounded before blowing himself up. The remaining three headed for a residential area within the compound, forcing women and children to lock themselves indoors. The gunmen climbed on to the roof of a residential unit where one was shot by a police sniper and the remaining two blew themselves up.
Shasqaat said two more people were killed in the conflict, a nursing assistant and a civilian. One rescue worker said some of the gunmen had been wearing uniforms when they mounted the attack.
Helicopters hovered overhead as television footage showed armed paramilitary forces taking cover outside the compound. Provincial law minister Rana Sanaullah said the emphasis was on trying to take attackers alive to garner information on the attacks.
Conflicting reports suggested the attackers may have included women, which would be a new departure in Pakistan's rapidly escalating battle against extremist militancy.
In North-West Frontier province a Taliban suicide bomber exploded his vehicle next to a police station, killing three police officers and eight civilians, including schoolchildren.
There were no claims of responsibility but many such attacks over the past year have been carried out by Taliban or Punjabi militant groups or, as in the army headquarters attack last weekend, a combination of both.
The violence came as the army was preparing to launch a major assault on the Taliban stronghold of South Waziristan at the southern end of the tribal belt.
The attacks in Lahore underscore how much of the militant problem is to be found in Punjab, the country's most populous and prosperous province. Hardline madrasas that have served as incubators for extremism are dotted across southern Punjab but the authorities have been slow to crack down on them, citing limited resources and fears of provoking a wider militant backlash.
The violence is reminiscent of the Mumbai attacks in India last year, when organised militants engaged in co-ordinated attacks on several different targets. The attacks, over four days in November, left more than 170 people dead. In the aftermath of the violence Indian police said the attackers had come from Pakistan, and Ajmal Mohammad Ajmal Amir, the only attacker to be captured alive, is believed by India to be a member of Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Pakistan-based militant group.
Loading...
1:48
Lahore Police brutality with men & womenby mqmloveyou61,527 views
the cops of Pakistan are bad they raped many womens and girls as young as 12
moor need to be killed
RAZBASH1 6 months ago
muslim killing muslim, that is very nice to hear n see, bastards killing bastards
mohdpedo 2 years ago
u mean that CURIOUS GEORGE haan :)
SiNNer420 2 years ago
Islamic Terror made in Pakistan
htgajjar 2 years ago
If bush really was tough he would have invaded pakistan. But he did the easy thing and picked on armys that can`t defend themselves. Watch how my maine Man obama handle business.
pattilab8338 2 years ago