Pakistan police targeted in latest wave of militant attacks

[Elzenga]

Pakistan police targeted in latest wave of militant attacks

Jeremy Page and Zahid Hussain in Islamabad


Suspected Taleban militants launched simultaneous attacks on three police buildings in Pakistan's eastern city of Lahore and a fourth police station in the northwest this morning, killing an estimated 31 people.

The Lahore attackers entered two police training centres and the local headquarters of the Federal Investigations Agency (FIA), firing shots and taking an unknown number of people hostage, according to witnesses. There were unconfirmed reports of three female fighters among the attackers.

The violence is the latest of an escalating, ten day wave of attacks by the Pakistan Taleban aimed at avenging their dead leader and deterring an imminent army assault on their strongholds in South Waziristan. At least 100 people have died in attacks that have spread out from the restless tribal territories to affect Pakistan's political and economic heartland of the Punjab.

"First the Frontier province was on the front line, now they are playing their games in Punjab," said Rehman Malik, the Interior Minister. He vowed that the violence would not deter the army from its Waziristan campaign.
Related Links

Police said that the FIA building was cleared after a 90 minute shoot-out and that seven people had been killed, including four police officials, two militants and one bystander.

"They [police] have taken control, the building has been cleared. The operation is complete," said Haider Ashraf, a senior police official in Lahore.

Gunmen also attacked the Manawan and Bedian training centres, which are on the outskirts of the city.

Six policemen and four gunmen were killed at the Manawa training centre, said city police chief, Pervez Rathore. Three of the attackers, who were clad in black, blew themselves up, he said.

Two policemen were killed at the Bedian academy and an exchange of fire continued until the early afternoon, security officials said.

Rana Mubasshir, the principle of the Manawan training centre, said that the attackers included three women who entered the compound over the back perimeter wall after hurling grenades . He said two attackers were killed, but three were still inside.

If the involvement of women militants is confirmed, it would be the first time they have taken part in such an attack.

This was the second attack on the Manawan training centre this year. Militants occupied the building for several hours in March, killing five trainees and two instructors.

"It was a multi-directional attack," said Khushro Pervez, Lahore's police commissioner. "They wanted to terrorise people and they wanted to target government buildings and law enforcement agencies."

A suicide car bomber also attacked a police station in the northwestern region of Kohat this morning, killing ten people, local officials said.

Afzal Khan, a police officer, said at least 20 people were wounded, and that half the police building was destroyed by the bombing. Both police and civilians were among the dead. "We fear that some policemen are trapped under the rubble," he said.

The commando-style attacks on Lahore appeared similar to a bold assault on the army's headquarters in Rawalpindi over the weekend, in which 10 militants took 42 people hostage in a major embarrassment for the military.

Twenty-three people were killed in that attack, including nine militants, three hostages and 11 soldiers.

The Taleban said the attack on the army headquarters was carried out by its branch in Punjab province, while the army blamed a combination of Taleban fighters from South Waziristan and Punjabi militants.

The Taleban also promised a wave of further attacks across Pakistan to avenge the death of its former leader, Baitullah Mehsud, in a US drone strike in August, and to intimidate the army into calling off its assault on South Waziristan.

The South Waziristan operation was announced in June and since then the army has been moving troops into the area, blockading roads and pounding militant hideouts with air strikes and artillery.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article6875629.ece