Pakistan Police Academy Siege Ends, 18 Killed

Pakistani security forces say they have taken control of a police academy that was seized by a group of gunmen earlier Monday.

Television footage showed paramilitary troops celebrating on the roof of the compound, near Lahore, after they had besieged the building for eight hours.

18 people were reported to have been killed and 90 injured, but the situation remains confused.

A senior interior ministry official said four militants had been killed and several others had been arrested.

Officials announced that the siege had ended after sustained heavy gunfire lasting 10-15 minutes.

Dozens of people had been trapped inside the building.
The armed group attacked a police training academy in eastern Pakistan with hand grenades and assault rifles.

A siege situation developed, with gunmen holed up inside the academy and reports that hostages had been taken.

The attack comes less than a month after gunmen attacked the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore. In that attack, six policemen were killed, while up to 14 gunmen escaped.

Pakistani officials said it was too early to say who was responsible for Monday's assault in Lahore.

The Lahore academy has been named by local media as the Manawan police training school. It is on the outskirts of the city, on a road to the border with India. Several hundred trainees were there when the gunmen struck, local TV reports said.

"The gunmen attacked police recruits from four sides when they were doing their routine morning drills," one police officer was quoted as saying. The firing was continuing nearly three hours after it started, the BBC reported.

Over the last year Pakistan has seen a dramatic increase in bombs and suicide attacks carried out by insurgents.

The violence has been concentrated on in the country's north-west, near the border with Afghanistan, but there have also been attacks in the country's main cities.

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