Lahore police academy:

POLICE END TERROR SIEGE

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. 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.

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.

LAHORE, Pakistan, Monday, Reuters