ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, May 8 (NNN-PPI) – At least nine people, including three policemen, were killed and 24 others injured this morning, in a blast near a police vehicle, outside a shrine, in Pakistan’s eastern city of Lahore, a police official said.
Deputy Inspector General of Police Operations, Ashfaq Ahmad, told media that the blast hit a police commandos’ vehicle near the crowded Data Darbar, a famous shrine in the provincial capital of the country’s eastern Punjab province.
The police officer said that the vehicle came under attack at 8:45 a.m. local time, when they were present on the site for the security of the shrine.
Three police commandos, one private security guard and a civilian are among the dead, said the officer, adding that, three other police personnel are also among the injured.
Local media reported that it was a suicide attack. The officer said, the bomb disposal squad and forensic team are working to determine the nature of the explosion. No group claimed the attack yet.
Police and Rangers, a paramilitary force, have cordoned off the site and launched a search operation in the city. According to local media reports, security has been beefed up in the city following the attack.
Following the blast, police and rescue teams rushed to the site and shifted the bodies and injured to the Mayo Hospital in the city.
Hospital officials feared that the death toll might further rise as several of the injured are in critical condition.
Majority of the victims received wounds caused by shrapnel during the blast, hospital officials said.
Pakistani Prime Minister, Imran Khan, has reportedly condemned the attack and called a high-level security meeting to analyse the current security situation and arrangements made by security departments.– NNN-PPI
