A suicide attack targeting police personnel in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore has killed at least 25 people and wounded scores more, officials say.
The attack targeted police assisting in a drive to clear the Ferozepur Road, a main road in Pakistan’s second city, of illegal construction and street vendors on Monday, provincial Law Minister Rana Sanaullah told media.
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) group claimed responsibility for the attack, confirming they used a suicide bomber on a motorcycle.
Jam Sajjad Hussain, a senior rescue official, confirmed the death toll, saying that at least 52 wounded had been moved to nearby hospitals.
The explosion took place near one of the city’s largest office towers, home to a government-sponsored technology park.
“It was a very loud noise for a split-second,” said Zaair Hussain, a witness who was working in the building when the explosion occurred. “There are lots of police and ambulances surrounding the site.”
“It seems this was a suicide attacker who was on a motorcycle,” Haider Ashraf, a senior police official, told local television channel Geo News. “Forensic and investigation teams are at the scene. When they have their findings we can share them.”
Ashraf confirmed that at least nine police personnel were among those killed.
Local police official Nazar Abbas, who was at the scene, confirmed to Al Jazeera that it was a suicide attack.
Source: ALJAZEERA