Dozens dead in bomb attack at Pakistan Intelligence building

Lahore ISI bomb attack {Aljazeera-AFP}

Has the US war against so-called terror made the world safer or just terrible?

“As many as 30 people are thought to have been killed in a blast outside a police station and a building housing the country’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI) in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore.

Police said that over 200 people were injured in the explosion on Wednesday, which appeared to be a suicide car bomb attack.

“A car came and broke through a barrier and exploded,” Sajjad Ahmed Bhutta, a senior city official, said.

Black smoke was seen rising above the city as ambulances attended the scene of the blast. Reports said the police station hit in the explosion had collapsed.

Casualty reports were confused, with Raja Riaz, a senior minister in the Punjab government, saying that about 30 people had been killed in the blast, though other reports were more conservative.

Building collapse

One policeman said that there had been 30-35 policemen inside the building when the blast occurred.

“The building collapsed,” he said. “I was at the back of the building and am fortunately alive. I was on duty and listening to calls when it happened.”

Al Jazeera’s Imran Khan, on his way to the scene, said the blast took place on Mall road, a busy commercial district in the centre of Lahore.

“We are hearing up to 40 cars have been destroyed in this blast … we are seeing bodies being pulled out of the rubble,” he said.

Nayyab Haider, a police spokesman, said: “It was a strong bomb blast. It damaged several buildings and cars and shattered widows.”

Gunshots were heard immediately after the blast, but it was not clear who was firing, witnesses said.

Hospitals were crowded with the injured from the blast. Local television showed a doctor trying to revive someone on a hospital floor.

[ad#medium]

Revenge attack

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but government branded it as a revenge attack for its military campaign against the Taliban.

Pakistan’s army has for weeks been battling Taliban fighters in the country’s northwestern Swat region.

Al Jazeera’s Mike Hanna, reporting from Islamabad, said that there was a fear the attack was linked the the military offensive.

“This is the first attack in Punjab province since the [military's] campaign began about a month ago,” he said.

“There had been speculation that there would be some retaliation, although we don’t know at this point who is responsible [for the Lahore attack].”

Wednesday’s blast was the third major attack in Lahore in recent months.”

source