59 TRAINEES DIE IN PAKISTAN
At least more than 116 wounded — mostly cop recruits, paramilitary
Once inside the academy grounds, Pakistani media said the gunmen headed straight to the dorms housing the cadets and trainees and opened fire, shooting indiscriminately
QUETTA, Pakistan—A four hour-long attack by a group of militants, including suicide bombers who stormed a Pakistani police academy in Quetta City, left at least 59 dead, mostly police trainees, officials said yesterday.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, for which authorities blamed the Taliban and al-Qaedalinked groups.
Pakistani troops responding to the assault said they killed one of the suicide bombers while two others detonated their explosives vests, blowing themselves up.
Health officials said over 116 have been wounded — mostly police recruits and some paramilitary troops. Noorul Haq, top health official in Quetta, the capital of the country’s restive Baluchistan Province, said several of the wounded were in critical condition, sparking concerns the death toll would rise further.
A security official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media, put the death toll at more than 60 but that figure could not independently be confirmed.
The attack started at 11:30 p.m. on Monday and Home Minister Sarfraz Bugti said the attackers shot and killed a police guard at the watch tower before they stormed into the facility.
There were disparate figures as to the number of attackers.
Provincial Police Chief Ahsan Mahboob said there were four gunmen while a statement issued by the military put the number of attackers at up to six.
About 700 cadets, trainees, instructors and other staff were inside the academy when it was attacked, Bugti said, adding that the gunbattle with the militants lasted for at least four hours.
Once inside the academy grounds, Pakistani media said the gunmen headed straight to the dorms housing the cadets and trainees and opened fire, shooting indiscriminately.
Some of the cadets jumped off the rooftops and through windows to try to escape.
“They were rushing toward our building, firing,” one cadet told Pakistani Geo TV news channel.
“We rushed for safety toward the roof and jumped down in the back of the building.”
Another recruit, his face covered in blood, told the station the gunmen shot at whoever they saw. “I ran away, just praying God might save me,” he said.
After hours of siege, the attack was over, said the home minister.
Pakistani forces tightened security around the academy and Quetta hospitals where the wounded were taken.
Footage aired on local television stations showed ambulances rushing out of the main entrance of the academy as fire engines struggled to put out fires set off by the explosions from the attackers’ suicide vests.
Most of those being treated at the city hospitals had gunshot wounds, although some sustained injuries jumping off the rooftop of the hostel housing the cadets to escape the gunmen.
“This war isn’t over,” said Pakistani Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan. “The enemy is weakened, but not eliminated.”
Maj. Gen. Sher Afgan, head of the Pakistani paramilitary force which is primarily responsible for the province, claimed the attackers had received instructions from commanders in neighboring Afghanistan.