At least 80 dead as gunmen storm two Lahore mosques

Lobbing bullets and firing indiscriminately, Taliban rebels stormed the mosque two of the minority Ahmadi sect Friday, leaving over 80 people dead and many more injured before the para-military and police Commandos regained control of two buildings for a three-hour operation, police and witness said.

The attack in Lahore was carried out at least seven men, including three suicide bombings, officials said. Thurs attackers were capture and one was treated for wounds, said the Punjab region police chief Tariq Saleem dogar.

It was one of the first hour of militants have deployed weapons and suicide squads and taken hostages in a coordinated attack on a religious minority in Pakistan. The threat to minorities has been exacerbated as Sunni Extremist Taliban and al-Qaida movement has spread.

The attacks occurred Friday in Model Town, Garhi Shahu neighborhood in Lahore, one of Pakistan's most politically important cities.

The attack that Model Town was relatively brief, and involved four attackers’ sprayed worshipers with bullets before exploding grenades, "said Sajjad Bhutta, Lahore deputy commissioner. In Garhi Shahu, the conflict lasted four hours.

Television pictures showed one attacker on top of a minaret of the mosque to a point in the siege, shooting an assault rifle and throwing grenades. Outside, buy police bullets with gunmen.

Luqman Ahmad, 36, sat and waited for the prayer to start when he heard shots and saw an bang. He quickly laid down and closed my eyes. "It was like a war going on approximately me. They cry I heard late chills down my back," said Ahmad. Bhutta said at least three attackers had several people hostage inside the Garhi Shahu mosque. The three were wearing jackets filled with amunition. "They fought police for hours, but since they were defeated they explode themselves," he said

About 80 people were killed in two attacks, while more than 80 were injured, said Bhutta. A breakdown of each site was not available.

Geo TV reported the Punjab province branch of the Pakistani Taliban had claimed responsibility.The province's top officer, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, said: "We, our security forces battle the threat until the end." An attack on places of worship is barbarianism. It is shame cause two bloodshed in the mosque. "

A spokesman Ahmadi, Waseem Sayed, said the sect abhor violence. He estimated Pakistan, a country of 180 million, had about 5,000,000 Ahmadis.

In the meantime, "said Interior Minister Rehman Malik said the involvement of Indian intelligence agency RAW could not be ruled out.