10 KILLED, 30 HURT AS BLAST RIPS THROUGH POSH LAHORE LOCALITY

ISLAMABAD: At least ten people were killed and 30 others injured when a blast ripped through an upmarket area in Lahore on Thursday, the latest in a wave of terror attacks that has claimed nearly 130 lives.

The blast came just a day after the military announced it would launch a new nationwide drive against terrorists.

For the first time, paramilitary troops will target terrorists in Punjab, of which Lahore is the capital.

Media reports quoted police sources as saying that a timed device with 10 kg of explosives was used in the attack.

The explosion occurred in an under-construction building in a market in the Defence Housing Authority, which was cordoned off by security forces.

“It was a bomb attack,” Nayab Haider, a spokesman for Punjab Police, said.

Punjab health minister Khawaja Salman Rafique told reporters eight people were killed and 30 others injured. Two more bodies were later recovered from the debris of the under-construction building.

The CEO of Pakistan’s Airlink firm, Moazzam Paracha, was among the dead. Some of the wounded were in a critical condition.

There were also reports of a second blast near another market at Gulberg in Lahore but this was denied by provincial law minister Rana Sanaullah.

Initial reports on Geo News channel after the first blast said a generator had exploded but officials later confirmed a bomb had gone off.

On Wednesday, the Pakistani military announced the launch of Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad to eliminate terrorists following the spike in suicide attacks and bombings.