TERRORIST ATTACK IN PAKISTAN

LAHORE: At least 39 people were killed and 95 others wounded on Friday after two suicide bombers struck the vehicles of Garrison Security Force near R A Bazaar in Lahore.

The heads of both alleged bombers were recovered from the scene of the blasts while two suspects were also arrested, the Inspector General of Punjab Tariq Salim Dogar told reporters after the blasts.

The IGP also confirmed the death toll.

Meanwhile, the proscribed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has claimed the responsibility for twin Lahore bombings.

The blasts took place at 12:48 pm within the space of 15 seconds at R A Bazar as crowds gathered for Friday prayers. The blasts were so powerful that it caused cracks in nearby buildings besides shattering window panes.

"We have collected concrete technical evidence, which will help identify the attackers. Both the attackers were on foot," the IGP said.

Five security men were dead and 15 others were wounded in the bombings, sources cloe to security agencies said.

Rescue workers and paramedics rushed to the R A Bazaar, a densely populated area of the city.

The area was crowded as the blasts occurred shortly before the main Friday prayers were to start. Emergency was immediately declared in city hospitals, where dead and injured were shifted.

LAHORE: Two suicide attackers blew themselves up near security forces vehicles in R A Bazar area of South Cantt as crowds gathered for Friday prayers killing at least 39 people including five security personnel and injuring 95, Geo News reported.

"Thirty-nine people were killed and 95 wounded in the attacks," Inspector General Police Punjab Tariq Salim Dogar told reporters after visiting the blast site.

"We have collected concrete technical evidence, which will help identify the attackers. Both the attackers were on foot," he added.

Five security men were dead and 15 injured in the attack, security sources said.

"There were two suicide bombers who attacked two military vehicles within the space of 15 seconds," SSP Operations Mohammad Shafiq told Geo News.

"The heads of both attackers have been found," he said.

Rescue workers and paramedics rushed to the R A Bazaar, a densely populated area of the city. The area was crowded as the blasts occurred shortly before the main Friday prayers were to start.

Emergency has been declared in city hospitals and injured were shifted to CMH and other hospitals.

Security forces have cordoned off the area and traffic was blocked. Media was not allowed to go near the scene.

LAHORE: A suicide car bomber has struck a building where police interrogate high-profile suspects in Pakistan's eastern city of Lahore, killing at least 13 people and wounding 61 others, including women taking children to school, officials said.

The attack shattered what had been a relative lull in major violence in Pakistan.

The attack also showed that rebels retain the ability to strike the country's heartland, far from the Afghan border regions where al Qaida and the Taliban have long thrived, despite army offensives aimed at wiping them out.

The authorities have found the head of the suicide bomber.

No group immediately claimed responsibility, but suspicion fell on the Pakistani Taliban and allied militant groups.

Those groups are believed to have been responsible for a wave of attacks which killed more than 600 people starting in October, including several in major Pakistani cities. More recent attacks have been smaller and confined to remote north-west regions near Afghanistan.

The latest explosion comes amid reports of a Pakistani crackdown on Afghan Taliban and al Qaida operatives using its soil. Among the militants said to have been arrested is the Afghan Taliban's number two commander, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar.

The bomb went off outside a Punjab province police building, police official Zulfikar Hameed said. TV footage showed a huge crater in the ground where the blast seemed to have originated.

DCO Lahore said that 800 kilograms of explosive material was used in the attack.

Police official Chaudhry Shafiq said 13 people had died. Of the 61 people wounded, several were in a critical condition.

Hospital official Jawed Akram said the dead included at least one woman and a young girl, apparently part of a group heading to a school. Several women were among the wounded.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik painted the attack as sign of desperation from militants whose "backs have been broken" by the army. "They are taking guerrilla actions but gradually it is decreasing and they are being arrested and in the coming days they will have no chance," he said.

 
 KOHAT: Five members of a family were shot dead over a property dispute in Banda Fateh Khan area of Kohat. Police have arrested the accused.

The accused Abid Aman, son of former chairman district council Wilayat Shah, killed five people including his two brothers, according to police officials. The dispute was over property and the accused was mentally retarded, police added