24 People Killed, 100 Hurt, in Lahore Suicide Bombs
March 11 -- At least 24 people were killed and another 100 injured in twin bomb explosions in Pakistan's eastern city of Lahore, the government said.
``These were both suicide attacks by unknown people in cars loaded with explosives,'' Pervez Khusro, the interior secretary for Punjab province, said in a telephone interview from Lahore.
There were two bomb blasts within moments of each other, the government's emergency service said. The first explosion took place in the building of the Federal Investigation Agency, a government office, and the second blast occurred in a house in the residential area of Model Town.
It was the second attack in Lahore this month. At least four people, including two members of the navy, were killed in a twin suicide attack in the city on March 4. The number of people killed in terrorist attacks in Pakistan more than doubled to 2,116 last year, according to the interior ministry.
The Model Town neighborhood is home to former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Pakistan Peoples Party leader Asif Ali Zardari. The house where the explosion took place was owned by Ijaz Batalvi, Sharif's former lawyer. Batalvi's son ran an advertising company from the house.
Death Toll
``The death toll is expected to rise sharply,'' Hafiz Faisal, a spokesman for Edhi Foundation, the nation's biggest ambulance service, said on the telephone from Lahore. ``Some people died on the spot from the impact. We are still trying to recover bodies from the debris.''
The first explosion, which killed 18 people, took place when a car full of explosives hit the gates of the building, the emergency service said. The second bomb, which killed four others, exploded on a motorbike.
``Most of the injured are very badly hurt because of the impact of the bomb blast,'' Fiyaz Ahmed Ranjha, medical superintendent at Mayo Hospital in Lahore, said by telephone. ``The death toll could rise further.''
Cars were set ablaze and windows of nearby buildings were shattered by today's blasts, GEO television reported. The building of the Federal Investigation Agency could collapse at any time after the blast, Dawn News reported, citing police.
The country has been placed on ``high alert'' to guard against further attacks, Interior Ministry Spokesman Javed Iqbal Cheema told reporters in Islamabad today.
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