Twin attacks kill 39 in Lahore

TWIN suicide attacks seconds apart targeted the Pakistani military yesterday, killing 39 people in the second attack to hit security forces in the country's cultural capital this week.

The bombers walked up to army vehicles in the crowded R A Bazaar area of Lahore, blowing themselves up as people sat down to eat before the main Muslim weekly prayers were to begin, a senior official said.

Lahore, a city of eight million near Pakistan's border with India, has been increasingly subject to Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked attacks in a nationwide bombing campaign that has killed more than 3,000 people in three years.

The bombers targeted the cantonment, home to army officials and military installations, as well as hospitals and schools run by the military. There were civilian homes, shops and restaurants in the vicinity of the attack.

Footage of the blasts broadcast by private Geo TV showed people running and shouting in panic. One man, who apparently shot the video on a mobile phone, is heard murmuring: "Oh my God, Oh my God, Be kind to us God."

Jumpy images of the second explosion showed a thick ball of smoke with a huge bang and people shouting. Mohammad Nadeem, a man in his 20s whose traditional white shalwar khamis was stained with blood down the front, said he was saying prayers in the mosque when he heard the first blast and rushed out only to hear another explosion.

"The second blast took place very near a military vehicle. I sensed real danger and started running," he said.

"There were scenes of destruction in nearby restaurants and shops. There were broken chairs and tables and other items lying everywhere on the ground."

The army sealed off the tree-lined street. Security officials said at least five soldiers were among those killed when the twin blasts shattered windows and sent debris flying from nearby buildings.

"Thirty-nine people were killed and 95 wounded in the attacks," Tariq Saleem Dogar, the Punjab provincial police chief, told reporters on live TV.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but Pakistan's main Taliban faction claimed a suicide attack Monday that destroyed offices in Lahore used to interrogate militant suspects, killing 15 people, and pledged further attacks.AFP