A suicide bomber walked up to policemen stationed outside the Lahore High Court (LHC) here on Thursday and set off his explosives, killing 21 people, most of them police, officials said.
“Most of the victims are policemen. It was a suicide attack.”-Mian Ejaz (Senior city government official)
City police chief Malik Mohammad Iqbal told private TV channel that all but one of the victims were policemen.
“It appears the bomber was on foot and, as soon as some policemen tried to stop him, he blew himself up”-Malik Mohammad Iqbal.
Policemen had gathered outside the court in central Lahore ahead of a protest rally by lawyers.
Pakistan has seen a wave of bomb attacks in recent months, many of them suicide attacks on members of the security forces, but there has been none in Lahore, capital of Punjab province.
“I was in the court when the blast went off. It was a big bang, I saw bodies of policemen lying on the ground.”-Syed Zulfiqar Bokhari (lawyer)