6 Killed, 92 Others Injured in Police Training Center Attack in SW Pakistan

Islamabad — At least six people were killed and 92 others injured in a terrorist attack at a police training center in Pakistans southwest city of Quetta on Monday night, officials said early Tuesday.

At least 200 police personnel have also been held hostage by terrorists who stormed a Police Training College located at the Saryab Road area of Quetta, capital of Pakistans southwest province of Balochistan.

Interior Minister of the province, Sarfraz Bugti said that the killed people include four terrorists and two policemen, while four security personnel are among the injured with remaining from police.

District Coordination Officer of Quetta Abdul Wahid Kakar confirmed that 92 injured were shifted from the training center to different hospitals of the city.

According to Provincial Health Minister, Rehmat Saleh Baloch, at least 52 policemen were suffering bullet injuries, 23 others got injured in hand grenade blasts while several others suffered from fracture injuries after they jumped out of the windows of their rooms in a hostel of the training center.

The health minister said that the death toll might further rise as at least 11 of the injured persons are in critical condition.

The incident took place when around five or six terrorists armed with automatic guns, hand grenades and suicide jackets entered the center from the backyard and made police personnel hostage in a hostel, said the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR), the mouthpiece of Pakistani army.

Following the attack, personnel of Pakistani army and Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force, reached the site and cordoned off the training center and launched the operation.

Exchange of intense firing was heard after the contingents of army and Frontier Corps entered the training center and started the operation to neutralize the terrorists, who have held around 200 police personnel hostage in a hostel of the training center.

Commandos of Pakistan army have killed two terrorists, while two other terrorists killed themselves by exploding their suicide jackets after they were cornered during the operation, said Bugti.

According local media reports, the security forces have cleared 90 percent area of the center while they are delaying the final operation to rescue the hostages to avoid further causalities because two terrorists wearing suicide explosives laden jackets are present among the policemen made hostage in the dinning hall of the hostel.

An eyewitness police trainee said, “we were sleeping in our room when we heard firing, we rushed out, I saw two terrorists were firing at another room, I ran to the roof of the hostel and from there I managed to come out.”

According to police, around 500-700 police personnel including trainees and instructors were present in the center when the attack took place, while around 250 policemen have been rescued so far.

A state of emergency has been declared in all hospitals in Quetta, while a monitoring centering has also been established in the interior ministry to watch the developments of the operation.

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif condemned the attack and said the terrorist cannot demoralize the nation with such coward attack and that the country’s ongoing war on terror will be taken to a logical end.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet. (PNA/Xinhua) JMC/EBP