Gunmen storm Pakistani police academy in Quetta

Gunmen stormed a police training centre in the Pakistani city of Quetta in the restive southwestern province of Baluchistan on Monday night, leaving at least 11 people wounded, hours after another attack killed two customs officers and wounded a third, authorities said.

Between four and six gunmen attempted to enter the hostel of a police training centre in a suburban area of Quetta.

Authorities said six trainees were wounded by gunshots and another five were injured when jumping off a roof and climbing a wall.

Baluchistan police chief Ahsan Mahboob told reporters that four gunmen attacked the training centre, attempting to enter a hostel housing the trainees.

A gun battle erupted when the hostel guards resisted, he said, leaving six trainees wounded by gunfire.

Mahboob said police and paramilitary forces surrounded the venue. A military statement put the number of attackers at up to six, and said Army and Frontier Corps troops were conducting a counter-terrorism operation at the site.

The attack came hours after gunmen shot and killed two customs officers and wounded a third near the town of Surab, about 90 miles (145 kilometres) south of Quetta.

The customs officers were targeted by gunmen riding on a motorcycle, said Zainullah Baloch, a spokesman for the local police.

Baloch said two officers died on the spot and the injured was taken to the hospital in critical condition. Sorab.

Earlier Monday, two gunmen on a motorcycle killed a police intelligence officer in the country’s northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, said Khalid Khan, a local police officer.

Khan said the attackers fled the scene after killing the officer, who had been on his way to work in the provincial capital of Peshawar.

The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for that attack. The group’s spokesman, Muhammad Khurasani, said in a statement that the shooters returned to their hideout after the attack.

Pakistan has carried out military operations against militants in tribal areas near Afghanistan and in cities across Pakistan, but extremists are still capable of staging regular attacks.