Suicide bombing kills 9 persons in Pakistan’s Lahore

APD NEWS

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By APD writer Muhammad Sohail

ISLAMABAD, March 15 (APD) – At least nine people, including five policemen, were killed and 35 others injured in a suicide blast in Pakistan’s eastern city of Lahore on Wednesday night, police said on Thursday morning.

Deputy Inspector General Operations of Lahore Police Haider Ashraf told media that the incident took place when a suicide bomber attacked a police party standing at guard near a religious gathering in Raiwind, a town on the outskirts of Lahore.

At least 35 persons, including six policemen, also sustained injuries in the blast, the officer said.

The death toll might further rise as three of the injured are still in critical condition at the hospital of Lahore, the provincial capital of eastern Punjab province.

Soon after the blast, police and rescue teams rushed to the site and shifted the bodies and the injured to the nearby hospitals.

Security forces and police launched a search operation in the area to arrest the aids of the attacker. A security high alert has been declared, while search, sweep, combing and intelligence based operations have also been intensified in the province.

Pakistani Taliban, a banned outfit, claimed the attack.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)