By IRNA,
Islamabad : Dr. Ayesha Siddiqa, a Pakistani independent security analyst, here Monday urged Pakistani intelligence agencies and police to devise a common strategy in dealing with militants.
Speaing to IRNA, Siddiqa said that the attack on police training center in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore was the outcome of poor coordination between the police and the security agencies.
“There should be consensus among the security forces to wipe out the militancy from the country”, she added.
Armed men entered a police training center at 7:30 am, threw hand grenades and opened fire at the policemen who were busy in a parade in the center, at Manwala area of Lahore, police said.
About 22 people were killed in the attack and 90 were wounded in the terror incident.
The commandos started a search operation in the premises after drop scene of the terror drama that continued for about eight hours.
Interior Advisor Rehman Malik announced the successful completion of the operation.
Federal Secretary of Interior Kamal Shah said that four terrorists were killed and three were arrested during the operation.
Talking to media, he said that two the terrorists were killed in the firing of police commandos and another two blew themselve up.
Dr. Ayesha Siddiqa opined that Pakistan itself is a victim of terrorism and the Manawan attack is carried out by those elements who wanted to destabilize the country.
She opined that the attack was done in a commando style and the militants were not on a suicidal mission.
“One cannot say who could be behind such a heinous crime unless the details of the incident are available, but chances of the presence of Taliban and Al-Qaeda cannot be ruled out”, said Dr. Ayesha Siddiqa.
She also speculated that there is a possibility of Punjab-based militant groups behind that act.
“The issue is of the lack of proper training facilities for the police in dealing with such attacks”, she said.
Dr. Ayesha Siddiqa was of the view that there is no coordination between the intelligence agencies and the police forces.
When asked about the similarity of the act with the incident of an attack on Sri Lankan cricket team she said that the similarity was in tactics and the militants again struck the heart of larger police training center.
Dr Siddiqa received her doctorate from King’s College London in 1996 and has worked on issues varying from military technology, defense decision-making, nuclear deterrence, arms procurement, arms production to civil-military relations in South Asia.