Twin suicide bombings kill at least 45 in Lahore

The attackers, who were on foot, blew themselves up within seconds of each other near some military vehicles in a densely-populated market area close to an army base. Mohammad Nadeem, a witness, told AFP that he was saying prayers in the mosque when he heard the first blast. "I saw people crying and running in different directions. They were panicked," he said.

The military cordoned off the site of the blasts and security forces were deployed in the area. Officials said they had collected concrete technical evidence, which would help identify the attackers.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi condemned the blasts in a statement and vowed that terrorism would never be allowed to triumph in the country.

Rise in violence

Friday’s attack was the second suicide attack against security personnel in Lahore within a week. On Monday, a bomber killed over a dozen people in front of a police intelligence building.

Previous such attacks have been blamed on Taliban and al Qaeda-linked militants, who are considered to be hiding in Pakistan’s lawless northwest border area with Afghanistan.

The latest violence comes as the military has stepped up its offensive against militants in recent months. Last month, the authorities confirmed the arrest of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the military commander of the Afghan Taliban, who had been hiding in the southern city of Karachi.

du/AFP/Reuters/dpa
Editor:Anne Thomas