Pakistan 'needs help' to fight terrorism

30 Mar 2009, 6:35 pm   -   Source: AAP
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The deadly attack on a Lahore police training academy shows Pakistan needs international support to combat terrorism, the federal government says.

The deadly attack on a Lahore police training academy shows Pakistan needs international support to combat terrorism, the federal government says.

At least 20 people were killed on Monday after gunmen armed with assault rifles and hand grenades stormed the training school.

The attack came less than a month after the Sri Lankan cricket team was ambushed, also in Lahore, killing six police officers and a driver and wounding several players.

Foreign Minister Stephen Smith on Monday said extremists were seeping deeper into Pakistan along its porous border with Afghanistan.

"The terrorist and extremist activity in Pakistan is not just limited to the Pakistan-Afghanistan border area, it is very much a serious attack on Pakistan," Mr Smith told Sky News.

"It is quite clear that Pakistan needs all the assistance it can get from the international community, including Australia, not just on security matters but also on economic and social matters.

"We've been saying for some time that when we think about Afghanistan we also have to think about Pakistan.

"Coordination between those two nations ... and NATO and the International Security Assistance Force and the international community is obviously very, very important."

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