QUETTA: At a time when Pakistan remains dogged about the terrorist factions it hosts, three gunmen from a Taliban-linked group burst into a training facility in Quetta, and took 61 lives. The attack on the Balochistan Police College, home to some 700 fresh recruits, is the latest in the country.
"I saw three men in camouflage whose faces were hidden, carrying Kalashnikovs. They started firing and entered the dormitory but I managed to escape over a wall," said a cadet. Addressing a press brief, Sarfraz Bugti, Home Minister of Balochistan informed that 60 persons embraced martyrdom in the attack, while 117 were wounded. He stated that the three terrorists, wearing suicide jackets, entered the college from the rare gate after killing a watchman, and held 250 cadets hostage. He said contingents of army, Frontier Corps, and other law enforcement agencies arrived at the scene soon after the attack, and launched a counter-operation. Detonation of a suicide vest by one of the terrorists lead to the rising number of deaths. Bugti said the attack was carried out by Lashkar-e-Jhangvi Al Alami militants who were getting constant instructions from Afghanistan.
However, the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, releasing images purported to be of the three gunmen. The terrorist outfit formed a branch for Afghanistan and Pakistan in January 2015 under Hafiz Saeed Khan. He was killed in US drone strike in July this year. IS is also responsible for a suicide bombing outside a hospital in Quetta this August, an attack that killed 88 people. Pak military has long been conducting operations against militants in tribal areas near the Afghan border.
Chief of the paramilitary Frontier Corps in Balochistan, Major General Sher Afghan said, "The attack was over in around three hours after we arrived. They were in communication with operatives in Afghanistan." Sources informed that the attackers were Afghan Uzbeks, and one of them was as young as 12. While two of the terrorists blew themselves up, the third was killed by security forces. Funeral prayers were offered to security forces personnel who were martyred. Amongst officials attending the prayers, were Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif, Chief Minister Balochistan Nawab Sanaullah Khan Zehri, Provincial Ministers, elected representatives and other military officials.
