45 killed, over 100 injured in suicide bombings, 5 blasts

Lahore, 13 Mar: Taliban terrorists yesterday struck this eastern Pakistani city with two near-simultaneous suicide attacks targeting the Army in cantonment area killing 45 people, including 10 soldiers and injuring 100 others.

Hours later, five blasts in quick succession rocked two crowded localities in Punjab's provincial capital but there was no immediate report of any casualty, injuring three persons including a policeman.

In the second major attack in the city within a week, the bombers, who were on foot, hit vehicles of the Garrison Security Force patrolling the cantonment near a mosque in the busy R A Bazar area at 12.48 pm local time.

An unidentified caller claimed responsibility for the attack on behalf of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan while talking to Geo News channel.

Today?s attack came four days after the suicide car bombing of a special investigation unit in Lahore that too was carried out by the Taliban.

"Two suicide attackers struck the army vehicles which were on patrol. The blasts occurred 15 seconds apart," said Special Superintendent of Police (operations) Chaudhry Shafiq Ahmed.

Forty-five people were killed and over 100 others injured in the attack, state-run Rescue 1122 service spokesman Fahim Jahanzeb told PTI.


(PTI)