Twin blasts kill 34 in Lahore
2009-12-07 21:01
Lahore - Two synchronised, remote-controlled bombs ripped through a market popular with women in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore on Monday, igniting a massive fire and killing at least 34 people, authorities said.
Another attack by a suicide bomber killed 10 in a northwestern city on Monday, part of a wave of militants strikes in Pakistan as the army presses an offensive against a Taliban stronghold in the northwest close to the Afghan border.
About 100 people were wounded in the attacks in Lahore, which were apparently timed to take place when the Moon Market was as its busiest. The bombs exploded within 30 seconds of each other, leaving dozens of cars and shops ablaze late into the night.
Many of victims were women and children, including a dead 2-year-old, a police officer said.
They attacks came hours after a suicide bomber killed 10 outside a courthouse in the northwestern city of Peshawar.
Islamist militants have carried out scores of bloody bombings in Pakistan in recent weeks.
Most have been directed at security forces, though several have targeted crowded public spaces such as markets, apparently to cause terror and increase pressure on the government to call a halt to the offensive. More than 400 people have been killed, including more than 100 in a market in Peshawar in October.
Civilians
The Taliban generally claim responsibility for those killing security officers, but do not admit to carrying out the attacks targeting purely civilian targets. Government officials and security analysts say there is little doubt the militants are behind all the attacks.
Moon Market sells clothes and shoes and is especially popular with women and their children.
Lahore's top government official, Khusro Pervaiz, said there were more than 34 dead and 109 wounded.
"I have a fear that the death toll might rise," Pervaiz said.
Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah said the bombs were apparently remote-controlled devices.
"There was a blast. Then there was another," said Mohammad Nauman, who was bleeding from his nostrils. "Nobody knew what was happening. Everybody was running. There was fire everywhere."
Lahore is Pakistan's second-largest city and is not far from the border with India. It has been hit several times by militants over the past year, including an attack on the visiting Sri Lankan cricket team and several strikes against security installations.
- AP
