Terror strike: Gunmen kill 7 in attack on army camp

The encampment was attacked from a bridge over the river Chenab.

LAHORE:

Gunmen killed six army soldiers and a policeman in an early morning assault on a military camp on the banks of the Chenab River in Gujrat district on Monday.

The deadly attack took place near the industrial city of Wazirabad hours after thousands of supporters of the Difa-e-Pakistan Council (DPC) crossed a nearby bridge on a ‘long march’ en route to Islamabad.

A senior security official said the encampment came under fire from the bridge. “The exact number of attackers is not known but they were riding on motorcycles and in a car and sprayed bullets on the troops from the bridge,” the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

“It is highly likely that the attackers belonged to a banned religious outfit, which is hand in glove with the Taliban,” he added.

The military also confirmed the fatalities.

“At least seven security personnel, including a police official, embraced Shahadat (martyrdom) and five others were injured due to firing by unknown assailants,” the military said in a statement.

A military rescue party had camped by the Chenab River to search for the body of an army pilot missing in a helicopter crash on May 23, the statement added.

The wounded soldiers were driven to the Combined Military Hospital in Gujranwala for treatment.

In all, 15 soldiers from the Army Air Defence unit were deployed at the camp under the command of Lieutenant Zeeshan. And most of them were resting at the time of attack.

Army troops mounted a manhunt for the attackers in the nearby forest.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack.

“If we follow the pattern of the attack, it looks similar to assaults that these outfits have been carrying out in different cities,” the security official said.

Police would not speculate who the attackers were.

“We’re investigating the incident. It’s premature to say who the attackers were,” Basharat Mahmood, the district police officer for Gujrat, said.

Hafiz Muhammad Saeed – whose Jamaatud Dawa charity is part of the DPC – condemned the attack and blamed it on US and Indian spy agencies.

(With additional input from agencies)

Published in The Express Tribune, July 10^th, 2012.