Terrorists paid to destabilise Pakistan: Malik

Several families of police personnel barricaded themselves in their quarters as the terrorists exchanged fire with security forces at the Bedian Road facility. Several loud explosions were heard from within the Bedian Road centre before the siege ended.

Dozens of ambulances rushed to the sites of the attacks to take the dead and injured to hospitals. Security personnel faced problems in their operation at the Bedian Road facility as it is spread over 25 acres. Initial reports had suggested that some women were involved in the attack on the facility but this was later denied by the Pakistan army and police officials.

“They (militants) are involved in a guerrilla war. First they were active in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP). Now they are engaged in Punjab. They are terrorists paid to destabilise Pakistan,” Interior Minister Rehman Malik told reporters. The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) office is located next to another building of the same agency that was targeted by a suicide car bomber on March 11 last year. The attack had killed 24 people and injured scores.

New trend
Thursday’s attack was also part of a new trend of terrorists storming the facilities of security agencies. In March this year, terrorists had stormed the police training centre at Manawan, killing eight policemen and injuring several others.

Last week, a group of terrorists attempted to storm the Pakistan Army’s General Headquarters in Rawalpindi. Nine attackers and 14 security personnel and civilian employees of the armed forces died in the assault.