One of the attacks, on the Elite Police Academy on Bedian Road, lasted into Thursday afternoon before security forces killed the five attackers and freed a family they were holding hostage, police said.
The assaults paralysed the cultural capital of the country, showing the militants are highly organised and able to carry out sophisticated, coordinated strikes against heavily fortified facilities despite stepped up security across the country.
No group immediately claimed responsibility, though suspicion fell on the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan who have claimed other recent strikes. The attacks on Thursday also were the latest to underscore the growing threat to Punjab.
‘The enemy has started a guerrilla war,’ Interior Minister Rehman Malik said. ‘The whole nation should be united against these handful of terrorists, and God willing we will defeat them.’
The wave of violence halted activity in Lahore. All government offices were ordered shut, the roads were nearly empty, major markets did not open and stores that had been open pulled down their shutters.
The violence began just after 9 a.m. when a group of gunmen attacked a building housing the Federal Investigation Agency, a law enforcement branch that deals with matters ranging from immigration to terrorism.
‘We are under attack,’ said Mohammad Riaz, an FIA employee reached inside the building via phone by The Associated Press during the assault. ‘I can see two people hit, but I do not know who they are.’
Dawn News
Waqas Anis writer aashubutt.blogspot.com
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