LAHORE – The two-storey hostel attacked on Thursday, in which nine policemen were killed and eight others injured, was under observation of the Taliban for the past six months, residents and Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) officials informed TheNation.
The hostel, comprising four rooms, came under attack by the Taliban on Thursday morning in the Rasool Park area of Samanabad.
All those killed and wounded in the attack were officials of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Prisons Department and had arrived in the City for a training course, scheduled to conclude on July 28, at the National Academy for Prisons.
The locals and injured cops believed that the assailants were highly trained and fully aware of the routine movements of the residents. “This terror activity has also exposed the police claim of having strong and so-called well-coordinated intelligence network,” a resident seeking anonymity said.
An ATS police inspector said the building lacked basic facilities because there was no ceiling fan, windows or other facilities on the first floor. “Strategically, this building was an easy target for the terrorists who were monitoring each and every movement of the area’s residents,” said the officer, adding evidence had been collected and statements of eyewitnesses recorded.
A resident, who requested not to be named, said almost three months ago, someone asked him about the security arrangements of the hostel. “He seemed to be a stranger, totally unfamiliar with the locality. Before leaving, to hide his motives, he had remarked that there should be adequate security arrangements,” he added.
He further stated some of the residents had been observing suspicious movement of unfamiliar people. “Such movements increased especially after these recruits arrived from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa about one-and-an-half months ago,” he observed.
Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Aslam Tareen, also head of the joint investigation team, admitted that the building was unsafe from three sides. “Neither these recruits and the Punjab Prisons Department requested for security arrangements nor the City Police were aware of this private residence being used as a hostel for police personnel for the past eight years,” he stated.
An eyewitness Malik Ali told this scribe that six armed men riding three motorbikes and a car stormed into the building at around 5:50am. He said the assailants holding tourist bags packed with Kalashnikovs, hand grenades and other firearms executed the entire episode within 12 minutes. “Five of the six attackers first gunned down a cop sitting outside the building and then entered the residence and sprayed bullets on the remaining cops who were fast asleep.”
Muhammad Shafiq, who used to cook for the recruits, told the media that policemen had just came back after offering Fajr prayer. “A few of them were sleeping on the carpeted floor of the lower portion when five terrorists stormed into the building. I was preparing breakfast when they opened fire. Subsequently, the recruits sleeping on the rooftop jumped into nearby residences to save their life,” he stated. The building was so packed and located in such a congested area that none of the cops inside the building could escape death, he added.