Over 50 Killed as Militants Attack Police Academy in Pakistan

Pakistani troops enter in the police training school attacked by militants in Quetta, Pakistan, on Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016. Gunmen stormed a police training center in the restive southwestern province of Baluchistan Monday, leaving scores of people killed and many wounded, authorities said. (AP Photo/Arshad Butt) (Arshad Butt/AP)

Gunmen in Pakistani city of Quetta killed more than 50 people in an assault on a police training camp Monday night, government officials said.

The attackers stormed the center at 10 p.m., gunning down cadets and later detonating explosive vests. The assault, which included gun battles with police, lasted about five hours. No group has taken responsibility for the attack.

More than 100 people were also injured and were in critical condition Tuesday, health officials said. According to local media, at least 59 people were killed.

The top health official in Baluchistan province, where Quetta is located, said the death toll is expected to rise, the Associated Press reported. Footage aired on Pakistani television showed ambulances streaming out of the camp’s main gate. Firefighters also rushed to the scene.

“I saw two gunmen firing as they ran toward us, toward our building,” a police cadet told Pakistan’s Geo News, a television station. “We got to the roof and jumped down to save our lives,” he said.

Security officials told local media that gunmen attacked a hostel inside the camp where cadets had retired for the night. Because the cadets were in training, they did not have their own weapons, officials said.

The militants also fired on a guard manning the camp’s watchtower, and slipped over the wall once the guard was killed.

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SOURCE: Shaiq Hussain and Erin Cunningham 
The Washington Post