By Aamir Latif
KARACHI, Pakistan (AA): At least six people, including four army troops, have been killed and 24 injured in an explosion in northeastern Lahore city of Punjab on Wednesday, police and local media reported.
Initial reports said that the explosion struck a vehicle carrying a staff of an ongoing census in the country on the northern outskirts of Lahore.
Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah told reporters that the census team was the target of the blast.
The army troops were providing security to the census staff.
There was no official word on the nature of the blast.
According to local 24 Tv quoting officials and eyewitnesses, the bomber rammed his bike into the van carrying the census staff.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif expressed his condolences on the loss of lives in the blast.
The premier paid tribute to the army personnel “who were targeted while performing their duties during the national census”.
Wednesday’s incident is the second terrorist attack in Lahore, the country’s commercial capital in less than two months.
On February 16, a suicide attack at a protest demonstration near Punjab state assembly killed 13 people including 2 senior police officials and injured more than 80 others. Jamat-ul-Ahrar, a splinter faction of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) had claimed responsibility for the attack.
Additional news by The Muslim News
[Map of Pakistan By NWFP FATA/Pahari Sahib/GNU Free Documentation License]
