Two shots hit bullet-proof vehicle, Gillani was not in car

A spokesman for the prime minister said Wednesday Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani and members of his entourage were safe after firing on his motorcade on the Islamabad Highway.

The prime minister's motorcade was on its way from Chaklala Air Base to the PM House. The PM had returned from Lahore after a day's stay there.

Two bullets hit the PM's bullet-proof vehicle, some one kilometre from Koral Police Station. A controversy over specification of jurisdiction surfaced soon after the incident with Islamabad police and Rawalpindi police locking their horns over accepting responsibility for investigation.

Regional Police Officer Rawalpindi Nasir Khan Durrani said the area fell in the Koral Police precincts while Islamabad police claimed the area was well within the jurisdiction of Airport Police Station, Rawalpindi. City Police Officer Rao Iqbal said security personnel of Islamabad police were on duty on the VVIP route when the PM motorcade was attacked.

He said that motorcade was fired upon from the area falling in the jurisdiction of Rawalpindi police however, the bullets hit the moving vehicle on the road which fell under Islamabad police. He said a joint investigation team comprising police officials from the twin cities was investigating the incident. Police cordoned off the area. Sniffer dogs were brought to the area and a thorough search was made. Police also arrested three suspicious persons following the incident.

It is the same area where a PML-N rally and Mian Nawaz Sharif were attacked on December 27, 2007. Five people lost their lives in that incident.

A high-level inquiry has been initiated into the matter and all the law enforcement agencies are collaborating to apprehend the culprits. Experts are trying to find out if there were any security lapses. The security officials who were accompanying the motorcade fired in retaliation. Meanwhile Asif Ali Zardari, Sherry Rehman, Salman Taseer, Qazi Hussain Ahmed, Liaqat Baloch and others have strongly condemned the incident. Swat militants have claimed responsibility for the attack.