Twin Suicide Blasts Kill Dozens in Pakistani City
A suicide bomber targeting an army vehicle in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore killed 12 people Friday, police said. It was the second attack in the city this week, indicating militants may be stepping up assaults on the country after a period of relative calm.
Officials were sorting out whether it was a single or twin blast, which also wounded 35, including soldiers, police official Mohammad Riaz said.
The area struck was RA Bazaar, a residential and commercial neighborhood where several army and security agencies have facilities. Pakistani TV channels showed security forces swarming the area as bystanders rushed the injured into ambulances.
Eyewitness Afzal Awan said he saw several people, some missing limbs, lying in pools of blood, The Associated Press reports.
"There were two suicide bombers who attacked two military vehicles within the space of 15 seconds," police official Mohammad Shafiq told reporters in Lahore.
"The heads of both attackers have been found," he said.
At least 50 people were wounded in the attacks in a military neighborhood of the city which is near the border with India, hospital officials said, Reuters informs.
According to SAMAA TV Pakistan news channel, twin blasts at bus stop of AR Bazaar in cantonment area of Lahore killed at least 50 people whereas more than 120 have been injured, informed sources in Rescue department.
Pakistan’s Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik said media in Islamabad that his government is trying to provide the best security arrangements. "Terrorists want to destabilize Punjab. I warn them that they can’t fight with the state."
