3 men carrying AK-47s fired blindly, cadets jumped off rooftops: All you need to know about 4-hour Quetta gunbattle

The late night attack on the Pakistan police training academy on the outskirts of Quetta was carried out by three heavily-armed militants wearing suicide bomb vests.

The attack which killed at least 60 people and left more than 100 people injured started around 11.30 pm. If some eyewitness acccounts are to be believed, the Pakistan police responded to the attack after 30 minutes.

MILITANTS LAUNCH ATTACK

Nearly 700 cadets, trainees, instructors were inside the academy when militants stormed into the building. The exchange of fire lasted for at least four hours, said Sarfaraz Bugti, Home Minister, Balochistan.

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Two terrorists entered the premises after shooting at the guard manning the checkpost near the front gate, while the third reportedly climbed the rear wall of the police centre.

After entering the academy complex, the militants headed straight to the dormitory where cadets and trainees stayed and opened fire.

Source: AP

Hearing the gun shots, the terrified cadets ran for cover, some even jumping off the rooftops and few others trying to escape through the building's windows.

"I saw three men carrying Kalashnikovs... they were in camouflage and their faces were hidden," a cadet was quoted by Dawn.

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"When the firing started, all of us lay down under our charpoys, turned off the lights and closed the door," another recruit told the Pakistani paper.

"They tried to break down our door, but were unable to. Then they started shooting at our windows. They couldn't get in," the recruit said.

COUNTER-OFFENSIVE LAUNCHED

According to some reports, the militants were constantly in touch with their handlers. At least three explosions were reported at the site.

As the police and security forces launched an offensive, the training academy plunged into darkness. Security personnel threw up a cordon while ambulances reached the spot, taking the injured to hospitals. Military helicopters circled overhead.

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The cadets were rescued from the college following an operation carried out by Special Services Group (SSG) commandos.

Source: AP

"Two suicide attackers blew themselves up, which resulted in casualties, while the third one was shot dead by our troops," said Major General Sher Afghan, chief of the paramilitary Frontier Corps in Balochistan, who led the counter-attack.

Senior Superintendent Police Operations Mohammad Iqbal said the suicide jacket of one of the attackers was not detonated.

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