Pakistani security forces took control of a police academy in Lahore yesterday after militants rampaged through the center’s parade ground, killing up to 20 people before holing up inside for hours.
“The operation is over. Four terrorists were killed and three arrested,” Pakistani Interior Ministry Secretary Kamal Shah said.
He said 89 policemen were wounded but the number killed was still being determined.
Islamist militants have launched a campaign of violence to destabilize the Muslim country of 170 million people and the one-year-old civilian government’s ability to meet the challenge.
TV news channels showed jubilant police shouting praise to God and firing in the air soon after an intense burst of firing inside the academy.
Punjab Province Governor Salman Taseer said authorities had reports of four people confirmed killed, although TV news channels put the number of dead at 20, including cadets.
“It was like doomsday; it was every man to himself. Every boy was trying to race to safety,” one young cadet with bandaged hands told reporters at a hospital.
One policeman described how the attackers struck while police recruits were going through their regular morning drill on the parade ground in the eastern city.
“A grenade hit the platoon next to ours ... then there was continuous firing for about 20 minutes,” the policeman told reporters gathered round his hospital bed.
“A man in light-colored clothes — I think they were white — stood in front of us, firing at us. They wanted to do as much damage as possible,” he said.
Between eight and 10 militants attacked the recruits as they performed a regular drill on the parade ground at about 7:30am and then went on to occupy the academy’s main building.
At about 4pm, commandos launched an operation to retake the building, said Major-General Shafqaat Ali, who described it as a joint operation by the army, paramilitary rangers and a police squad.
“Our forces stormed the top floor where they were holding positions,” Ali said. “The operation is over the building is in our control.”
“We have arrested some terrorists. We are interrogating them. One is a Pashtu speaker — a young person,” Interior ministry chief Rehman Malik told the private Geo TV station in a telephone interview.
“Four terrorists were killed,” he said, denying charges that law enforcement had broken down.
“It is wrong to say that law and order has collapsed in Pakistan. We are very near to [tracing] the attackers involved in this,” he said.
“It is a planned, organized, terrorist attack. This shows the extent to which the enemies of our country can go. We have to fight with unity. Hostile elements have to be eliminated with unity,” the interior ministry chief said.
The siege lasted nearly eight hours, with security forces firing from rooftops of nearby buildings, while gunmen returned fire and threw grenades.
People can preregister to receive their NT$10,000 (US$325) cash distributed from the central government on Nov. 5 after President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday signed the Special Budget for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience, the Executive Yuan told a news conference last night. The special budget, passed by the Legislative Yuan on Friday last week with a cash handout budget of NT$236 billion, was officially submitted to the Executive Yuan and the Presidential Office yesterday afternoon. People can register through the official Web site at https://10000.gov.tw to have the funds deposited into their bank accounts, withdraw the funds at automated teller
PEACE AND STABILITY: Maintaining the cross-strait ‘status quo’ has long been the government’s position, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan is committed to maintaining the cross-strait “status quo” and seeks no escalation of tensions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday, rebutting a Time magazine opinion piece that described President William Lai (賴清德) as a “reckless leader.” The article, titled “The US Must Beware of Taiwan’s Reckless Leader,” was written by Lyle Goldstein, director of the Asia Program at the Washington-based Defense Priorities think tank. Goldstein wrote that Taiwan is “the world’s most dangerous flashpoint” amid ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He said that the situation in the Taiwan Strait has become less stable
FRESH LOOK: A committee would gather expert and public input on the themes and visual motifs that would appear on the notes, the central bank governor said The central bank has launched a comprehensive redesign of New Taiwan dollar banknotes to enhance anti-counterfeiting measures, improve accessibility and align the bills with global sustainability standards, Governor Yang Chin-long (楊金龍) told a meeting of the legislature’s Finance Committee yesterday. The overhaul would affect all five denominations — NT$100, NT$200, NT$500, NT$1,000 and NT$2,000 notes — but not coins, Yang said. It would be the first major update to the banknotes in 24 years, as the current series, introduced in 2001, has remained in circulation amid rapid advances in printing technology and security standards. “Updating the notes is essential to safeguard the integrity
REASSURANCE: The US said Taiwan’s interests would not be harmed during the talk and that it remains steadfast in its support for the nation, the foreign minister said US President Donald Trump on Friday said he would bring up Taiwan with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) during a meeting on the sidelines of the APEC Summit in South Korea this week. “I will be talking about Taiwan [with Xi],” Trump told reporters before he departed for his trip to Asia, adding that he had “a lot of respect for Taiwan.” “We have a lot to talk about with President Xi, and he has a lot to talk about with us. I think we’ll have a good meeting,” Trump said. Taiwan has long been a contentious issue between the US and China.
RSS