By Amena Khokhar, KUNA
Islamabad : At least 17 persons including 15 policemen were killed and over 70 critically wounded in a suicide blast in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore on Thursday, police said.
A suicide bomber, disguised as a policeman, blew himself up outside the High Court (HC) building in Lahore, about 370 kilometers southeast of Islamabad, while the HC Bar Association meeting was underway and lawyers were about to hold a rally, police sources and a journalist from the city told KUNA.
Sources said that the bomber was carrying explosive materials, weighing more than 10 kilograms, in a bag. Some reports said that the bomber was wearing an explosive jacket and he set off the explosives near about 100 policemen who were deployed to avert troubles during the rally.
They said that at least 15 policemen and two civilians were killed and more than 70, mostly policemen, were critically wounded. A local senior government official, Malik Iqbal, confirmed that it was a suicide blast and put the death toll between 15 and 20. He said the main target of the bomber was policemen not lawyers rally.
Hospital sources said near 30 were killed and dozens of injured policemen were in critical condition.
The explosion took place a day after Scotland Yard team arrived in Lahore to further the probe into Benazir Bhutto assassination, who was killed after addressing a rally in Rawalpindi city.
Since President Musharraf imposed emergency in the country in November last year, Pakistan has been plunged into chaos and security in major cities has been deteriorated despite stringent security measures.
Though the emergency was lifted after a month but the authorities have been unable to curb the rising militants attacks targeting security forces.