Click to play videoLahore: At least 26 people, including two children, have been killed in two bomb blasts in Pakistan.
The first blast was reported close to Lahore High Court and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) office on the city's Mall Road.
Media reports claim that a suicide bomber had blown himself up in the FIA building's parking area. The FIA building may collapse in the wake of the blast and has been declared dangerous.
Over 100 FIA employees had already reported for work when the explosion occurred. The front of the FIA office was completely destroyed by the blast, which also shattered the windows of nearby buildings and houses.
The explosion triggered fires in the FIA office and in CNG-run cars parked in the building's parking lot. Witnesses said the blast damaged stairs leading to the upper floors of the building, creating hurdles for rescue workers.
According to Dawn TV reports, the rescue workers of FIA building pulled out 16 bodies. Ten FIA employees are among the dead.
The FIA office is housed in a seven-storey building, where approximately 200-300 people work.
FIA Director General Tariq Parven spoke to CNN-IBN.
“It’s too early to talk about the nature of the blast. We can’t rule out hands of groups inside Pakistan who want to create a bad atmosphere. We are in constant touch with the local police,” Parven said.
Authorities say they don’t want any foreign intervention in their search process.
“It was a planned explosion and all strategic buildings— Punjab assembly and PMLN headquarter—are in this area. We are finding out the people behind the blasts. We are capable of handling the investigation, no need of any central or foreign investigation at this time,” Lahore IG Malliq Iqbal told CNN-BN
The area around FIA building is densely populated. However, there were not many people in the area at the time of the explosion, reports Dawn.
The blast created panic in the nearby Mall Road area, and students of the Sacred Heart School located near the FIA office were evacuated after the blast.
The injured of FIA building have been moved to Gangaram and Mayo hospital of Lahore.
A second explosion was reported at Lahore Model Town Block-F, an upscale residential area in Lahore city, near Bilawal House and residence of Amir Mehmood. The blast took place near one of the most popular schools in Lahore.
Dawn News television quoted police officer Asmal Gondal as saying that two suicide bombers drove a pickup truck up to the house and detonated their explosives. Two children of a gardener who worked there were killed, the report said. The details of that attack could not immediately be confirmed
The attacks came just a week after two suicide bombers targeted the Pakistan Navy's War College on Mall Road, killing seven persons and injuring over 20 people.
Pakistan has been rocked by a wave of suicide attacks, especially those targeting military, since last year which are being blamed on the local Taliban who are battling security forces in the countries restive tribal areas.
Former premier Benazir Bhutto was killed in a suicide bombing on her rally in Rawalpindi on December 27.
Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of slain former prime minster Benazir Bhutto, assured the West that the new government would renew Pakistan's commitment to countering Taliban and al-Qaida militants.
Recent Blasts in Pakistan
2008
March 1: 30 killed in a suicide bomb attack at a funeral in northwestern Pakistan.
January 14: Seven people, including a child, killed and 40 others injured in a blast in an industrial area in Karachi.
January 7: Eight killed in an al-Qaeda attack on two offices of government-sponsored peace movements in northwest Pak.
2007
December 31: Benazir Bhutto’s assassination sparks violent protests leaving 47 dead.
December 27: Benazir Bhutto and 16 others killed in a gun and bomb attack after a rally in Rawalpindi.
December 21: 41 people killed in a suicide attack at a mosque in northwest Pakistan during Eid festival prayers.
December 17: 10 military recruits killed in a suicide attack in the northwestern town of Kohat.
November 24: 15 people killed in Rawalpindi in twin suicide attack, on the eve of the return of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif from exile.
October 25: 21 people, including 17 soldiers, killed in a suspected suicide attack on an army convoy in the northwestern Swat valley.
October 19: 139 killed in a suicide attack on Benazir Bhutto's motorcade as she is driven through Karachi after arriving home from eight years in self-exile.
(With agency inputs)
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