Three terror attacks killing almost 22 people, shook Lahore on Thursday morning. I was getting ready for work, when the text message from the Rescue headquarters informed me that FIA building at Famous temple road been under attack. While I was making a few calls to confirm the news, I got to know about the other two attacks, one in Munawa Police training school and other at Elite Police training Center. All three locations are almost 15- 20 kilometers apart.

I first reached at the FIA building. Four terrorists had been successful to enter in the 7-storied building. Exchange of fires and a few explosions of grenades were alarming. The same building had been under attack by terrorist last year. In around 3 hours the operation completed killing all 4 terrorists. It was a horrible site seeing when the member of bomb squad removed the suicide jacket from one of the attackers who was dead by the counter fires from Police.

It was a busy day at work, updating and gathering news, talking to sources and developing stories, updating versions.  I had been informed that the usual activities of the city were on halt and flights postponed, shops remained unopened and markets were empty.

While driving back home I took a turn towards the historical temple road where the unfortunate FIA building. Is situated. Almost 200 years old this road is famous for its Bar B Que, Kababs, Chicken Masala and Chai (tea).  It’s interesting to find a crowd eating on the sides of roadside enjoying the Lahorie delicacies. While I drove through temple road I was amazed to see the same crowd enjoying food in same manner. Sitting so close to security threaten area and still enjoying the meals, I suppose can only happen in Lahore. I couldn’t go back without having special tea here, which is served in glass instead of cup.

The city is saddened, but the culture of living every moment of life seemed shaken but not gone. I couldn’t resist, and ordered tea from the famous Chai Shop on temple road, which is served in glass instead of cup. The handful of terrorists cant take the life out this land, I thought, sipping tea in front of cordoned off FIA building on Temple Road.

The report by Gen McChrystal, last week got leaked to the media, in which he have assessed three main Taliban groups. The report identifies these groups as Quetta Shura Taliban (QST), Haqqani network (HQN) and Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin.

Quetta and Kandahar

This group is operating from Quetta, Pakistan under the command of Mullah Omer, the Afghan Taliban Leader, the report narrates.

"The QST has been working to control Kandahar and its approaches for several years and there are indications that their influence over the city and neighboring districts is significant and growing,” the report states.

Based on the premise of McCrystal’s report, US Diplomats in Pakistan are lobbying for Mullah Omer’ s presence in Quetta, asserting, “If Pakistan did not get rid of Mullah Omar, the United States would.”

While the insurgency is predominantly Afghan, McChrystal writes that it "is clearly supported from Pakistan. Senior leaders of the major Afghan insurgent groups are based in Pakistan, are linked with al Qaeda and other violent extremist groups, and are reportedly aided by some elements of Pakistan’s ISI," which is its intelligence service. Al-Qaeda and other extremist movements "based in Pakistan channel foreign fighters, suicide bombers, and technical assistance into Afghanistan, and offer ideological motivation, training, and financial support."

On the other hand, the Interior Minister of Pakistan has said that Mullah Omar is in Kandahar and not in Pakistan.

Denying the reports that the ISI is supporting the Taliban, Rehman Malik said, ”Pakistan’s intelligence agency has spared no effort to combat "terrorism.”

Rehman Malik’s statement was backed by the successful operation in Swat against Talibans. “We have managed to break the back bone of terrorists and realizing our successful strategy in Swat, the US is thinking of applying the same strategy in Afghanistan,” Director General Inter Service public relation stated last month.

The news rang on the cell phone of a beat reporter – Security agencies had notified police headquarters that more than one hundred buildings in Lahore were under security threat. A friend, who also works as the bureau chief for another news channel, and I were both sipping our evening chai at a cozy lounge in a busy area of Lahore. We both rushed back to our newsrooms and spent the late evening trying to find out what was going on. This is normal life in Lahore these days.

For the last 8 months, the peaceful, cultural city of Lahore has been under the deadly threat of terrorism. We say “ignorance is a bliss” but sometimes the more one knows, the more problematic and confusing it becomes. A similar situation has started to occur with journalists in Lahore.

Every day we are bombarded with stories, and then various conspiracy theories behind them, which are of course far more horrifying than the information regularly available to the man or woman on the street. But there is a common thread – we are all confused and often feel completely fooled by various hands (Editor’s note: we discussed the turmoil in Pakistan at the Frontline Club last week)

Who is fighting against whom? Who bought whom for their own interest? Who are the Taliban? Who are the Mujahidin or the militants? What foreign powers are acting here, if any? American, Arabs, Afghans or even Pakistan’s conventional enemy India?

There are a list of common interests of so many nations, groups and sects intertwining and eating each other like termites, but more than that they are bringing great loss to the average Pakistani. The country is beginning to lose a sense of grip. Ordinary Pakistanis feel deceived and manipulated by everybody including democratic governments.

We have had some of the deadliest terrorist attacks in Lahore, including the last attack on the ISI headquarters in Lahore, where around 100 kg of explosives were used. How did this amount of explosives enter the city, how did 8 gunmen make it through the busiest area of the city one afternoon? This once more confirmed the idea that, this cant happen, without the involvement of an underground secret network.

Terrorist attacks like this need not only abundant resources, but coordination, planning and detailed recconaisance of locations. They must have practiced the whole plan at least a dozen times to eliminate risk of failure. Much like the co-ordinated planning we saw during the police academy attack and the attack on the Sri Lankan Cricket team. What are the common interest of all these groups? Its definitely not religion, it’s a war between ignorance and naïvete, conversation between deaf and a mute, where it will end nobody knows.

Photograph of Busy Street in Lahore by Mr.Matt

Munawan, Lahore: After 3/3, 30/3 was another event, filled with tragedy infused with confusion and terror. Lahore isn’t too used to taking all this.

7:30AM – 30/3: Another Terrorist attack—After Sri Lankan team, this time on Police Training school in Munawa, some 14 KM from Lahore, more towards Wagha Border between India and Pakistan. Flew to the place while checking down the hospitals which come in the mid vicinity, and found some witnesses, who gave me their first account,” “7:00 am in the morning while the morning drill and exercise was going on, in the grounds of Police school, some six unknown men entered the building and threw hand grenades’, and later threw open the fire aimlessly on the trainee constables, and later occupied the building and now killing everyone inside while keeping police boys as hostages”.

9:30AM-30/3: Reached Munawa – From a distance of 1 mile from the original location as I started walking towards the Police Training School, I could hear uninterrupted rounds of firing. The old white colored building of training school was supposedly carrying some 6 terrorists inside. While it was surrounded by Army and Police, taking positions on rooftops. The terrorists had position themselves on the upper floor aiming from the glass windows, and using ruthlessly the arms and ammunition of the school.

10:30 AM – 30/3: Shootout continues, killing one civilian, and multiple police trainees, who tried to escape from the ground, where they had laid themselves on ground to cope with aimless firing on attackers.

2:30 AM -30/3:  Some bullet proof cars had brought so far almost 62 injured policemen and some 4 dead bodies out of the building. The attackers were confined to the 4th floor of the building now. The bullet proof cars were bringing. So far the army helicopters had started hovering over the building and as a result severe firing from the building was noticed.

4:00 AM -30/3: An unknown man carrying some hand grenades was trying to reach to helicopters parked near by. The man couldn’t understand local language, and had it appeared he was of Afghan origin.

4:30 AM -30/3: Severe explosion sound from the main building and then there was a continuous silence. Suspecting attackers had blown themselves.

5:37 AM -30/3: 20 minutes long army operation, continued firing and shootout and finally there was calm at the scene after the 8 hourrs long incident and the building was cleared. When it was declared that the attackers had blown themselves up by suicide bombing, the police and army entered, prohibiting media not to go in to spoil the evidence. After anout one hour, the scene was opened to the media.

Images Inside: It was a ruthless scene to report. Outside the four storey brick building, the building  had pieces of broken glasses of the windows. Bullet shells, and along with them some pieces of human flesh. The four attackers had blown themselves up. Their heads and body parts were scattered all over the fourth floor. Some pieces had busted out from the broken windows and were now to be seen on the floor, while the evening of 30/3 was setting.

Photograph taken from BBC News/AFP. This was originally posted to Phyza’s Frontline blog. You can follow Phyza’s reports from the Lahore and beyond here.

Munawan, Lahore: After 3/3, 30/3 was another event, filled with tragedy infused with confusion and terror. Lahore isn’t too used to taking all this.

7:30AM – 30/3: Another Terrorist attack—After Sri Lankan team, this time on Police Training school in Munawa, some 14 KM from Lahore, more towards Wagha Border between India and Pakistan. Flew to the place while checking down the hospitals which come in the mid vicinity, and found some witnesses, who gave me their first account,” “7:00 am in the morning while the morning drill and exercise was going on, in the grounds of Police school, some six unknown men entered the building and threw hand grenades’, and later threw open the fire aimlessly on the trainee constables, and later occupied the building and now killing everyone inside while keeping police boys as hostages”.

9:30AM-30/3: Reached Munawa – From a distance of 1 mile from the original location as I started walking towards the Police Training School, I could hear uninterrupted rounds of firing. The old white colored building of training school was supposedly carrying some 6 terrorists inside. While it was surrounded by Army and Police, taking positions on rooftops. The terrorists had position themselves on the upper floor aiming from the glass windows, and using ruthlessly the arms and ammunition of the school.

10:30 AM – 30/3: Shootout continues, killing one civilian, and multiple police trainees, who tried to escape from the ground, where they had laid themselves on ground to cope with aimless firing on attackers.

2:30 PM -30/3:  Some bullet proof cars had brought so far almost 62 injured policemen and some 4 dead bodies out of the building. The attackers were confined to the 4th floor of the building now. The bullet proof cars were bringing. So far the army helicopters had started hovering over the building and as a result severe firing from the building was noticed.

4:00 PM -30/3: An unknown man carrying some hand grenades was trying to reach to helicopters parked near by. The man couldn’t understand local language, and had it appeared he was of Afghan origin.

4:30 PM -30/3: Severe explosion sound from the main building and then there was a continuous silence. Suspecting attackers had blown themselves.

5:37 PM -30/3: 20 minutes long army operation, continued firing and shootout and finally there was calm at the scene after the 8 hourrs long incident and the building was cleared. When it was declared that the attackers had blown themselves up by suicide bombing, the police and army entered, prohibiting media not to go in to spoil the evidence. After anout one hour, the scene was opened to the media.

Images Inside: It was a ruthless scene to report. Outside the four storey brick building, the building  had pieces of broken glasses of the windows. Bullet shells, and along with them some pieces of human flesh. The four attackers had blown themselves up. Their heads and body parts were scattered all over the fourth floor. Some pieces had busted out from the broken windows and were now to be seen on the floor, while the evening of 30/3 was setting.

Photograph taken from BBC News/AFP.