- Title: Gunmen storm police academy in Pakistan's Quetta, two dead
- Date: 24th October 2016
- Summary: QUETTA, PAKISTAN (OCTOBER 25, 2016) (REUTERS) SOLDIERS STANDING OUTSIDE POLICE TRAINING CENTRE AMBULANCES CARRYING WOUNDED DRIVING PAST SOLDIERS GESTURING TO MEDIA TO MOVE BACK SOLDIERS WALKING NEXT TO VEHICLE SOLDIERS SITTING IN VEHICLE ARMY VEHICLE DRIVING OUT OF TRAINING CENTRE COMPOUND SOLDIER STANDING MILITARY JEEPS DRIVING INTO POLICE CENTRE COMPOUND (SOUNDBITE) (Urdu) PROVINCIAL HOME MINISTER, SARFARAZ BUGTI SAYING: "Following orders of the Chief Minister, an emergency has been declared in all hospitals. The rescue operation is going on. Reinforcements are coming. Contingents of Frontier Corp and Police are arriving. Our focus is entirely on the operation." MORE MILITARY VEHICLES DRIVING PAST (SOUNDBITE) (Urdu) UNIDENTIFIED POLICE CADET WHO ESCAPED, SAYING: "Three or four militants came directly into our barrack. They just barged in and started firing point blank. We started screaming and running around in the barrack. Then I ran upstairs." REPORTER ASKING: "How many people were in your barrack?" "There were around 10 or 12 people in the barrack." REPORTER ASKING: "How many attackers were there, and what did they look like?" "They were all wearing masks. They were masked." SOLDIERS STANDING
- Embargoed: 8th November 2016 22:47
- Keywords: Quetta Pakistan attack police academy eyewitness
- Location: QUETTA, PAKISTAN
- City: QUETTA, PAKISTAN
- Country: Pakistan
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace
- Reuters ID: LVA00155D98HZ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Gunmen stormed a Pakistani police training academy in the southwestern city of Quetta late on Monday (October 24) night, killing at least two people and wounding dozens, officials said.
Some 200 trainees are stationed at the facility, officials said, and some had been taken hostage.
No militant group immediately claimed responsibility for the assault.
Mir Sarfaraz Bugti, home minister of Baluchistan province, of which Quetta is the capital, confirmed early on Tuesday that at least five or six gunmen had attacked a hostel where police recruits were staying.
Bugti added the operation was ongoing.
"Following orders of the Chief Minister, an emergency has been declared in all hospitals. The rescue operation is going on. Reinforcements are coming. Contingents of Frontier Corp and Police are arriving. Our focus is entirely on the operation," he said.
The attack appeared well coordinated, with senior law enforcement agencies saying that assailants had fired at the police training centre from five different points, another security official in the area said.
Later, the attackers entered the centre's hostel where around 200 to 250 police recruits were resting and sleeping, the security officials said.
One police cadet, who escape by jumping form the roof of the building described what happened.
"Three or four militants came directly into our barrack. They just barged in and started firing point blank. We started screaming and running around in the barrack. Then I ran upstairs," he said, adding that the gunmen were wearing masks.
By about 1 a.m. Pakistan time, at least three explosions had been reported at the scene by local media, but there was no immediate word of any additional casualties. Gunfire could still be heard, media said.
The Police Training Centre covers about an acre of land located about 13 kilometres outside the main city of Quetta. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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