By IINA
Lahore : At least 22 people have been killed and 100 injured in two suspected suicide car bombings in the city of Lahore in eastern Pakistan. A majority of the victims died in a car bomb that hit an office of the federal police in the heart of the city. A second bomb went off in a residential area, killing two children, police said. Shortly after the blasts, the Australian cricket team announced the cancellation of their forthcoming tour to Pakistan over security fears, BBC reported. State-run television showed pictures from Lahore of a damaged multi-storied building, charred vehicles and uprooted trees at the site of the blast near the federal police office. The police said the first explosion hit the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) at 0925 (0425GMT) in Lahore.
FIA official Mirza Mohammed Yasin told reporters that it was caused by a bomb planted near a lift inside the building. President Pervez Musharraf said: “Acts of terrorism cannot deter government’s resolve to fight the scourge with full force.” “The building is badly damaged. Fire is raging,” witness Tariq Saeed told Reuters. Bodies are being taken out of the building. I have seen five,” he said. Some 200 to 300 people are said to work in the building, and the number of casualties is expected to rise, says the BBC’s Barbara Plett in Islamabad. The cause of the second explosion was not immediately known.
Last week, four people were killed and 14 injured in a suicide bombing at a naval college in Lahore. Lahore, the capital of Punjab province, has not been a frequent target, although 19 people were killed in a suicide bomb attack near the High Court in January. Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was killed by a suicide bomber in Rawalpindi in December.