By DPA,
Islamabad : At least seven people, including two policemen, were killed and more than a dozen injured Wednesday in a suicide attack that targeted the police in Pakistan’s eastern city of Lahore, officials said.
The blast occurred late in the evening near a police station in a busy market in the Iqbal Town area of the city as people were making preparations for the country’s 61st Independence Day celebrations to be held the following day.
“A young man in his twenties approached the police party and blew himself up,” said Mushtaq Sukhera, deputy inspector general for investigations.
Five civilians and two security personnel died in the bombing, while 16 people, including 12 policemen were injured, he added.
The attack came hours after multiple missiles targeted a compound used by the followers of a hardcore pro-Taliban tribal commander, Mullah Nazir, in Baghar village in the restive tribal district South Waziristan. The strike killed at least 10 Islamic militants, including some suspected Al Qaeda fighters.
“Preliminary reports say at least four missiles hit the compound, killing more than 10 militants,” according to a senior security official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue. “Among them were also foreigners.”
The security official said forces across the border had fired guided missiles, while the local residents claimed a US drone was seen flying in the area at the time of the strike.
US forces in Afghanistan have launched several missile strikes this year in Pakistan’s tribal area, which is home to sanctuaries of Taliban and Al Qaeda militants launching cross-border attacks into Afghanistan.
Al Qaeda’s chemical weapons expert Abu Khabab al-Masri, also known as Midhat Mursi, was killed in a similar strike in South Waziristan on July 28.