http://www.smh.com.au/world/suspected-terrorists-killed-after-lahore-siege-20090330-9h3f.html?page=-1
Suspected terrorists killed after Lahore siege a.. Matt Wade South Asia Correspondent b.. March 31, 2009 Under fire ... clockwise from left, officers help a wounded colleague Photo: AP A BLOODY terrorist siege at a Lahore police academy ended last night in a hail of gunfire when Pakistani commandos overpowered a gang of gunmen holed up inside the complex. The attack started when about 10 heavily armed militants, reportedly dressed in police uniforms, stormed a crowded parade ground on the outskirts of Lahore yesterday firing automatic weapons and detonating grenades. The attackers were believed to have then held scores of hostages inside the compound. No official death toll has been released but up to 40 people are feared dead and more than 100 people may be injured. The siege ended with an exchange of heavy gunfire lasting about 15 minutes. Television footage then showed jubilant Pakistan troops pumping their fists and firing weapons in the air to celebrate the end of the eight-hour siege. Rehman Malik, one of Pakistan's top security officials, said four attackers were killed in the shootout but at least three had been captured alive. "It is a planned, organised, terrorist attack. This shows the extent to which the enemies of our country can go," he said. The siege was an "attack on Pakistan's integrity". Pakistan's President, Asif Ali Zardari, condemned the attack and ordered an inquiry. One terrorist was caught near the academy during the siege when he tried to attack security forces with a grenade. Television pictures showed the bearded man in his 20s being beaten by police and later being held in a headlock by a policeman brandishing a pistol. Soon after the initial attack local television showed the bodies of policemen lying face down on the academy parade ground. Police trainees could also be seen jumping the high fence of the complex and scrambling to safety. The attack comes less than a month after the commando-style ambush on a convoy carrying the Sri Lankan cricket team and match officials in Lahore. Eight Pakistani policemen were killed in that attack and seven Sri Lankan players injured. Five Australians travelling in the convoy - three coaches and two umpires - escaped injury. Like the gangs that attacked the Sri Lankan team and Mumbai, the gunmen were well trained, worked in small groups and carried backpacks which contained automatic weapons and grenades. The attack also continued an ongoing assault by Pakistani insurgents on security forces, police and military. Pakistan is under pressure from the US to quell an insurgency by al-Qaeda and Taliban militants on its soil. Last Friday the US President, Barack Obama, unveiled an American policy approach to Pakistan and its troubled neighbour, Afghanistan, describing the situation as "increasingly perilous". However, security analysts in Pakistan expressed concern at the increasing frequency of terrorist attacks. Last Friday a suicide bomber attacked a mosque in Jamrud, a town in north-west Pakistan, killing about 50 people. This came after a suicide attack on a busy market place in Rawalpindi on March 16 that killed 14. The Lahore police academy attacked yesterday is not far from the Indian border and the chief of the Indian army, Lieutenant General Nobel Thamburaj, said his troops were prepared for a "spillover" from instability on the Pakistan side of the border. Time to refocus on al-Qaeda: Obama WASHINGTON: The US President, Barack Obama, said his predecessor's administration had lost its "focus" on the war in Afghanistan, forcing the creation of a new strategy that is aimed narrowly at defeating the terrorists who base their operations from there and Pakistan. "What we want to do is refocus attention on al-Qaeda. We are going to root out their networks, their bases," he said on CBS TV. "We have to ensure that neither Afghanistan nor Pakistan can serve as a safe haven for al-Qaeda. "We've just got to make sure that we are focused on achieving what we need to achieve with the resources we have." The Washington Post [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
