LAHORE: A twin suicide attack targeting Pakistani army vehicles in the eastern city of Lahore killed 20 people on Friday, a senior police official said.
We have the heads of both the bombers. There was an interval of 15 seconds between the two attacks. They were on foot. Their target was army vehicles, Chaudhry Mohammad Shafiq told reporters at the site.
At least 20 people were killed. Army personnel, were injured, some of them are in a serious condition, he added.
Rescue workers and paramedics rushed to the RA Bazaar. The area was crowded as the blasts occurred shortly before the main Friday prayers were to start. The second blast was reported from the Saddar roundabout.
The RA Bazaar is a residential and commercial neighborhood where several army and security agencies have facilities. TV channels showed security forces swarming the area as bystanders rushed the injured into ambulances.
We have sent our teams to the site to ascertain the kind of blasts, where they took place and the losses, police official Mohammad Shafiq-ur-Rehman told AFP. Another police official also confirmed two explosions were heard.
Eye witnesses reported that there was firing before the blast.
According to police officials two suicide bombers detonated themselves in a parking lot and mosque in the area.
According to military sources, military officials are among the critically injured. Sources claimed that an army convoy was targeted but most of the dead were civilians.
The blasts came four days after a suicide car bomber destroyed offices used to interrogate suspected militants in an upmarket district of Lahore.
DAWN.COM | Metropolitan | Twin suicide attack kills 20 in Lahore: police