Pak Army Chief arrives in Quetta post attack on police training college

Islamabad [Pakistan], Oct. 25 : Pakistan Army chief General Raheel Sharif arrived in Quetta on Tuesday hours after terrorists stormed a police training centre killing at least 60 security personnel, Inter-Services Public Relations reported.

The Army Chief visited the police training college where the incident occurred. He was accompanied by DG ISI Lt-Gen Rizwan Akhtar and DG MI Major General Nadeem Zaki Manj. A high-level security meet will be chaired by General Sharif during his visit. The Army Chief will also be visiting the hospital to meet those injured in the attack. Meanwhile, all scheduled commitments have been cancelled by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who will be arriving in Quetta in a couple of hours, reports The Express Tribune.

Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar while addressing a passing out parade said that he will depart for Quetta shortly.

Chief of the paramilitary Frontier Corps in Balochistan, Major General Sher Afgan, said the militants belonged to the Al-Alimi faction of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi militant group - which is affiliated with the Pakistani Taliban.

"They were in communication with operatives in Afghanistan," he added. The group has not claimed responsibility for the attack. At least 60 people, mostly cadets, were killed and 97 others injured as three terrorists stormed a police training college in Quetta Monday night, prompting an operation by military and Frontier Corps forces to clear the premises which houses at least 600 police cadets.

There was an intermittent exchange of fire between the attackers and the security forces for several hours, with reports of a hostage situation.

At least three terrorists were reportedly killed with the security forces claiming that the operation was over.

Source: ANI