Pakistan-blast

23 killed in suicide car bomb in Lahore

Article published on the 2009-05-27 Latest update 2009-05-27 15:04 TU

Rescue workers carry the body of a dead policeman at bomb blast site
(Credit: Reuters)

At least 23 people were killed and 300 wounded in a suicide car bomb attack which destroyed a police headquarters Wednesday in Lahore, Pakistan. The unidentified attackers fired at the policemen stationed outside the offices of a police emergency response unit before setting off their bomb.

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“At around 10.30, a van came with six people in it. They started firing and throwing grenades, Arif Nizami, the editor of The Nation newspaper in Lahore told RFI.

He was in his office, only a few blocks away, when the attack took place. “Their objective was probably to attack the ISI headquarters [intelligence agency] but they did not succeed in doing that," he said.

"They decided to blast the van which resulted in the Skill centre [police emergency response unit office] being completely destroyed," he said.

The explosion flattened the building and ravaged several surrounding office blocks, including the ISI headquarters. It is the third attack of its kind in three months in Lahore. In late March, the chief of Pakistani Talibans, Baitullah Mehsud, claimed responsibility for an assault against a police academy in which eight cadets were killed and 89 wounded.

“It is a very sensitive area. The main targets have been the police buildings. There are sleeper militants, many Talibans in the region," Nizami explained.

Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik believes the attack could have taken place to avenge the army’s operation in northwest Pakistan.