VZCZCXRO5030
OO RUEHLH RUEHPW
DE RUEHLH #0067/01 0901219
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 311219Z MAR 09
FM AMCONSUL LAHORE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3985
INFO RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD IMMEDIATE 4728
RUEHKP/AMCONSUL KARACHI IMMEDIATE 2027
RUEHPW/AMCONSUL PESHAWAR IMMEDIATE 1708
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 0757
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL 0381
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 0113
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RHMFISS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUMICEA/USCENTCOM INTEL CEN MACDILL AFB FL
RUEHLH/AMCONSUL LAHORE 5130

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 LAHORE 000067 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  3/31/2034 
TAGS: PTER PGOV PK
SUBJECT: POLICE FOCUS ON DOMESTIC EXTREMISTS AS MARWAN INVESTIGATION 
PROGRESSES 
 
REF: (A) LAHORE 64, (B) LAHORE 66 
 
Derived from: DSCG 05-1, B,D 
¶1. (C) Summary:  Senior police contacts have told post that the 
current investigation into the March 30 attack on the Manawan 
Police Training School is focusing on domestic extremist groups 
with ties to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas.  Police 
are under pressure to concentrate on Baitullah Mehsud's 
Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in part due to Interior Advisor 
Rehman Malik's statement linking them to the incident and in 
part due to western media coverage of Mehsud's claim of 
responsibility for the attack.  Given that the mode of attack 
differs significantly from TTP's usual operations -- primarily 
suicide bombings -- police are continuing to examine the 
possibility of involvement by designated foreign terrorist 
organizations Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, which is believed to have been 
involved in the March 3 attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in 
Lahore; Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, which carried out the November 
attacks in Mumbai; southern Punjab extremist group 
Jaish-e-Mohammad; and various domestic al-Qaeda affiliates. 
Senior police leaders are again under public pressure for 
ostensibly ignoring an intelligence warning about a possible 
attack on police facilities passed by the Lahore Corps Commander 
earlier in the week.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (C) Senior police contacts shared with post their initial 
insights into the Manawan Police Training School attack on March 
¶30.  The initial investigation has shown that an 
as-yet-undetermined number of terrorists entered the facility 
from neighboring residential areas by climbing over two side 
walls.  Initial media reports of an attack on the front gate 
were inaccurate.  Upon entering the facility, the terrorists 
threw grenades and then opened machine-gun fire on recruits, who 
had gathered for their morning parade.  The death toll, 
according to police sources, is actually far higher than 
reported in the media and may be over 50.  More than 90 police 
remain confined to local hospitals for treatment of injuries 
sustained in the initial attack. 
 
¶3. (C) Police sources claimed that following the attack on the 
parade ground, the terrorists moved into the main building on 
the training school's campus and barricaded themselves inside. 
Police officials in the main building were held hostage by the 
terrorists or remained in hiding in locked rooms in the facility 
for the duration of the attack.  Terrorists sporadically 
exchanged fire with police, Elite Force, and the Rangers 
paramilitary force for the duration of the nearly eight-hour 
siege.  Pakistan Army forces provided air support and advice to 
the rescue and clean-up operation that was primarily conducted 
by the Elite Force and Rangers.  During the final operations, 
four terrorists blew themselves up to avoid capture, and two 
were killed by security forces' gunfire.  Police sources claim 
that there are still six unidentified bodies from the incident 
that may be either terrorists or police personnel.  The total 
number of terrorists involved in the attack is unknown.  Police 
believe that at least one terrorist was injured but escaped. 
 
¶4. (C) Police said that they have detained two terrorists in 
connection with the incident.  Both have reportedly been 
transferred to the custody of the Inter-Services Intelligence 
(ISI) for questioning.  Police are confident that one of those 
detained took direct part in the attack and was captured in the 
course of the operation.  Pictures of his detention have been 
prominently displayed in local media.  Police sources claim that 
the individual is primarily a Pashto speaker, but they admit 
that he may come from either northern Pakistan or southern 
Afghanistan.  Police sources are not confident that the second 
individual was actually involved in the attack and believe that 
he may have been mistakenly detained. 
 
¶5. (C) Interior Minister Rehman Malik told Ambassador March 31 
that as many as four people have been arrested in connection 
with the attack.  The one attacker, who announced "I am Muslim" 
was, according to Malik, linked through phone intercepts to 
Baitullah Mehsud's second in command.  Malik said this 
individual arrived in Lahore 15 days before the attack; he had 
been crossing back and forth across the Pak-Afghan border for 
some time.  Three additional persons were picked up in the 
vicinity carrying arms and are under investigation.  Malik also 
saw possible links to Jaish-e-Mohammad, but how they are linked 
to Mehsud in this attack was unclear. 
 
¶6. (C) Police sources admitted to post that their investigation 
 
LAHORE 00000067  002 OF 002 
 
 
has yet to reveal clear leads to any terrorist organization. 
Senior police leaders are focusing attention on the 
Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in large part due to the 
Minister Malik's public statement claiming the group's 
involvement.  Local media carried prominent denials of 
responsibility from the TTP's spokesperson.  However, Reuters is 
claiming that TTP leader Baitullah Mehsud has accepted 
responsibility in an interview with its reporter -- a story 
which has subsequently been picked up by BBC.  Police sources, 
however, are somewhat skeptical of TTP's ability to mount such 
an attack, noting that it differs significantly from the group's 
traditional suicide bombing methodology.  Police claim that in 
addition to TTP, they are also strongly focusing on the 
possibility of the involvement of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, which is 
now believed to have been responsible for the March 3 attack on 
the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore, and Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, 
which carried out the November attacks in Mumbai and is angered 
by the continued detention of its leaders in Pakistan.  Police 
are also looking into possible connections to Jaish-e-Mohammad, 
a terrorist group based in southern Punjab, and local al-Qaeda 
affiliates. 
 
¶7. (C) Police leaders have been embarrassed by the revelation in 
local media that the Lahore Army Corps Commander had passed a 
credible intelligence report to both the Inspector General of 
Police and the Capitol City Police Officer Lahore warning of a 
possible terrorist attack against police installations in 
Lahore.  Police sources confirmed to post that such a report 
had, in fact, been received.  The embarrassing incident mirrors 
a similar one where intelligence agencies had provided police 
with advance warning of a possible terrorist attack on the Sri 
Lankan team in advance of the March 3 incident. 
 
¶8. (C) Comment:  Post believes that it is too early in the 
investigation to draw any firm conclusions regarding which 
terrorist group was responsible for the March 30 attack.  The 
focus on domestic groups with links to Pakistan's troubled 
Afghan border region seems sensible.  If TTP is shown to have 
played a significant role in the March 30 attacks, it would mark 
a significant shift in operational methodology for the group and 
demonstrate a new tactical ability not previously displayed. 
Post fully expects that the newly restored Shahbaz Sharif 
government will use the incident as a pretext for massive 
reshuffling within the Punjab Police designed to replace those 
officers appointed during governor's rule and seen as loyal to 
Governor Taseer or the Pakistan Peoples Party.  End Comment. 
HUNT