At least 44 people were killed and 118 injured when militants attacked a police training academy in Quetta, Pakistan, late Monday, the government said.
Sarfraz Bugti, Pakistan’s Minister for Home and Tribal Affairs, told reporters that the assault had ended in the early hours of Tuesday and the area had been cleared for attackers.
One attacker was killed by security forces; two others died when they detonated bombs they were carrying, he said. It was not immediately clear whether the three dead attackers were among the total number of dead cited by Bugti.
Two police officers were also killed during the assault.
The attackers focused on a hostel at the academy where as many as 700 police cadets live, officials said. Two hundred cadets were rescued Monday night, Bugti said.
Five or six “terrorists entered the training school and (went) straight to the hostel where they took cadets hostage,” the Pakistani army said in a statement.
There were reports of hostages but it was unclear how many or whether any hostages were among the dead or injured.
So far, authorities have not said which group, if any, has claimed the attack.
Similar attacks
Quetta is the capital of Balochistan, a province long-plagued by violence.
In August of this year, the city saw one of the deadliest attacks Pakistan has ever seen when prominent lawyer, and president of the Balochistan Bar Association, Bilal Kasi, was murdered by gunmen.
Hours later, more than 72 people were killed in a bombing at a hospital where his body was taken.
“No one will be allowed to disturb peace in the province that has been restored due to countless sacrifices of security forces, police and the people of Balochistan,” Pakistan’s Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif said at the time.
The prime minister also said in a statement that he had directed authorities to “maintain utmost vigilance.”