19 die in bloody siege at Pakistan police academy

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(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-03-30 23:11

LAHORE, Pakistan -- A group of gunmen attacked a police academy and rampaged through it for hours Monday, throwing grenades, seizing hostages and killing at least eight police and three civilians before being overpowered by Pakistani security forces in armored vehicles and helicopters, authorities said.

An injured man is carried to safety from the site of a shooting at a police academy in Lahore March 30, 2009. [Agencies]

Six militants were arrested and eight others died in the eight-hour battle to retake the facility on the outskirts of this city in eastern Pakistan, said Rao Iftikhar, a top government official in Punjab province.

Officials said more than 90 officers were wounded by the attackers, some of whom wore police uniforms.

The highly coordinated attack underscored the threat that militancy poses to the US-allied, nuclear-armed country and prompted Pakistan's top civilian security official to say that militant groups were "destabilizing the country."

The attack on the Manawan Police Training School began as dozens of the officers carried out morning drills. About 700 trainees were inside at the time.

"We were attacked with bombs. Thick smoke surrounded us. We all ran in panic in different directions," said Mohammad Asif, a wounded officer taken to a hospital. He described the attackers as bearded and young.

"Some of the attackers are wearing (police) uniforms," officer Ahsan Younus told The Associated Press. "They have also taken some of our police as hostage."

TV footage showed several frightened police officers jumping over the wall of the academy to flee the attack. Some crouched behind the wall of the compound, their rifles pointed in the direction of the parade ground where police said the attack took place. Farther back, masses of security forces and civilians monitored the tense standoff, taking shelter behind security and rescue vehicles.

The forces had surrounded the compound, exchanging fire in televised scenes reminiscent of the militant siege in the Indian city of Mumbai in November and the attack on Sri Lanka's cricketers earlier this month in Lahore.

Armored vehicles entered the compound while helicopters hovered overhead. At times, explosions rocked the scene.

At one point, security forces cornered several militants on the top floor of a building on the compound, where the gunmen held about 35 hostages, Iftikhar said.

"The eight hours were like eight centuries," said Mohammad Salman, 23, one of the hostages. "It was like I died several times. I had made up my mind that it was all over."

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