Suicide bombs kill 39, wound 95 in Lahore

A pair of suicide bombers targeting army vehicles detonated explosives within seconds of each other on Friday, killing at least 39 people in this eastern city and wounding nearly 100, the police said. It was the fourth major attack in Pakistan this week, indicating Islamist militants are stepping up violence after a period of relative calm.

At least six security personnel were among the dead, senior police official Chaudhry Mohammad Shafiq, said.

The bombers, who were on foot, struck RA Bazaar, a residential and commercial neighbourhood where several security agencies have facilities. Pakistan TV channels showed security forces swarming the area as bystanders rushed the injured into ambulances.

Senior police official Tariq Saleem Dogar, said 39 people were killed, and another 95 were hurt. Some of the wounded were missing limbs, lying in pools of blood after the enormous explosions, eyewitness Afzal Awan said.

“I saw smoke rising everywhere,” Awan told reporters. “A lot of people were crying.”

No group immediately claimed responsibility, but suspicion quickly fell on the Pakistani Taliban and al—Qaeda.

The militants are believed to have been behind scores of attacks in U.S.—allied Pakistan over the last several years, including a series of strikes that began in October and lasted around three months, killing some 600 people in apparent retaliation for an army offensive along the Afghan border.

In more recent months, the attacks were smaller, fewer and confined to remote regions near Afghanistan.

But on Monday, a suicide car bomber struck a building in Lahore where police interrogated high—value suspects - including militants - killing at least 13 people and wounding dozens. The Pakistan Taliban claimed responsibility.

Also this week, suspected militants attacked the offices of World Vision, a U.S.—based Christian aid group, in the northwest district of Mansehra, killing six Pakistani employees, while a bombing at a small, makeshift movie theater in the main northwest city of Peshawar killed four people.

The attacks show that the loose network of insurgents angry with Islamabad for its alliance with the U.S. retain the ability to strike throughout Pakistan despite pressure from army offensives and American missile strikes against militant targets.

The violence also comes amid signs of a Pakistani crackdown on Afghan Taliban and al—Qaeda operatives using its soil. Among the militants known to have been arrested is the Afghan Taliban’s No. 2 commander, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar.

The Pakistani Taliban, meanwhile, are believed to have lost their top commander, Hakimullah Mehsud, in a U.S. missile strike in January. The group has denied Mehsud is dead but has failed to prove he’s still alive.

Militant attacks in Pakistan frequently target security forces, though civilian targets have not escaped.

During the bloody wave of attacks that began in October - coinciding with the army’s ground offensive against the Pakistani Taliban in the South Waziristan tribal area - Lahore was hit several times.

In mid—October, three groups of gunmen attacked three security facilities in the eastern city, a rampage that left 28 dead. Twin suicide bombings at a market there in December killed around 50 people.

Pak can blow up India: A.Q. Khan

Pakistan’s disgraced nuclear scientist Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan has said that in the event of a nuclear war, Pakistan can inflict irreparable damage to India.

“Neither India can inflict any loss to Pakistan nor destroy Lahore. However, Pakistan can inflict irreparable loss on India (in case of a nuclear war),” Dr Khan said.

He, however, said, “Neither we can conquer New Delhi and Agra, nor India can destroy Lahore and dare to inflict loss on Pakistan.”

Talking to this newspaper, he said, “We are Muslims and India is a Hindu state and an isolated country. But we (the Muslims) talk more and work very less.”

About giving civil nuclear technology to India by the US, he said that the Americans do not like to extend such generosity to the Muslim countries.

“The worries of the Western countries about falling of Pakistani nuclear arsenal into the hands of militants are unfounded. The US does not trust Pakistan but has confidence in India,” Dr Khan said.

The scientist rejected that he exported nuclear secrets to any country including Iran.

“This was a drama created (former military ruler) Mr Pervez Musharraf. He is a liar and tried to falsely implicate me,” the scientist said.

“He should be tried under treason charges for levelling allegations on me,” he added.