At least 16 people, including two top police officers, were killed and nearly 60 others were injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up during a protest rally outside the Punjab Assembly building in Lahore in eastern Pakistan.
As per Geo TV reports, the blast occurred as a large number of chemists and pharmaceutical manufacturers were staging a demonstration against a new drug control act on the Mall Road, where several key government buildings are located. It was not clear if the protest was the target of the blast.
The Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a faction of the Pakistani Taliban, had claimed responsibility for the attack.
Lahore’s traffic police chief Ahmad Mobin and two other senior police officials were among the dead, authorities said.
Drone camera footage aired on Samaa TV channel showed a powerful blast shortly after a man approached a group of protesters on the Mall Road. It was believed this man was a suicide attacker.
The blast shattered windows of nearby buildings and some cars caught fire. Ambulances and fire tenders rushed to the scene as contingents of soldiers and paramilitary Pakistan Rangers were deployed. The injured were taken to Mayo Hospital and Ganga Ram Hospital.
