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By BABAR DOGAR
The Associated Press
Wednesday, May 27, 2009; 2:07 AM LAHORE, Pakistan -- A suicide car bomber targeted buildings housing
police and intelligence agency offices in eastern Pakistan on Wednesday,
killing about 30 and wounding more than 100 in one of the deadliest such
blasts in the country this year, officials said.
The attack, which was followed by gunfire, was the third major strike in
the city of Lahore in recent months, and it came amid worries of
retaliation from Taliban militants facing a major Pakistani military
offensive in the northwest. Lahore is a major cultural metropolis near the Indian border, and
assaults there have heightened fears that militancy in Pakistan is
spreading well beyond the northwest region bordering Afghanistan. No one immediately claimed responsibility for Wednesday's bombing. Raja Riaz, a senior minister in the Punjab province government, told
reporters that about 30 people died. Fayyaz Ranjha, a senior health
official, told state-run Pakistan Television that the attack had wounded
116 people. The explosion was so powerful it sheared the walls off buildings in a
main business district. TV footage from the scene showed injured
bystanders while emergency workers carried at least one person covered
by a blanket to an ambulance. Police official Mohammed Ashfaq said it was a suicide car bomber, and
that the attack occurred outside the office of the emergency police
service in Lahore. TV footage showed the nearby office of the
Inter-Services Intelligence agency also was damaged. Ashfaq said gunshots were heard immediately after the blast. An AP
reporter saw dozens of troops entering the damaged building of the spy
agency to supervise the rescue work, while gunshots were also heard from
inside the building even one hour after the blast. Earlier this year, a group of gunmen attacked Sri Lanka's visiting
cricket team in the heart of Lahore, killing six police officers and a
driver and wounding several of the players. A few weeks later, gunmen raided a police academy on the city's
outskirts, leaving at least 12 dead during an eight-hour standoff with
security forces including army troops. Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah
Mehsud claimed responsibility for that attack. The military is waging an offensive against Taliban militants in the
northwest Swat Valley, a monthlong operation the army says has already
left some 1,100 suspected militants dead. The offensive has spurred
fears that the Taliban could stage revenge assaults. ___ Associated Press Writer Munir Ahmad contributed to this report from
Islamabad.
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