As news of the Lahore attack came in, the Indian side of the Attari border immediately went on alert. "A high alert has been sounded on the Indo-Pak Attari border and its surrounding areas,'' inspector general, Border Security Force (BSF), Himmat Singh said. He added that security had been enhanced at the Wagah checkpost, the land transit route that leads to Pakistan.

Pakistani policemen collect weapons belonging to the gunmen who attacked the police academy near Lahore on Monday

A witness said the assault started at 7.30 am when police recruits were undergoing their morning drill. The gunmen attacked in groups of three or four from various sides, opening fire and hurling grenades. Some of them were clad in police uniforms.

"A man in light-coloured clothes stood in front of us, firing at us. They wanted to do as much damage as possible,'' a wounded recruit said at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in Lahore.

The gunmen then went on to occupy the academy's main building. Another wounded policeman recounted how he jumped from a second-floor window to escape when the gunmen burst into a room and began firing.

At about 4 pm, the army, paramilitary rangers and a crack police squad launched a joint operation to retake the building. "Our forces stormed the top floor where they were holding positions,'' Major-General Shafqaat Ali said. "The operation is over and the building is in our control.''

Three of the terrorists blew themselves up during the final assault, and commandos rescued ten police recruits who had been taken hostage.

The siege lasted nearly nine hours, with security forces firing from therooftops of nearby buildings and gunmen returning the fire and throwing grenades. At one point, an armoured personnel carrier was forced to retreat. Before the siege ended, the police chief said one of the suspected attackers had been caught.