26 die in attack near residence of CM Shahbaz

ISLAMABAD : A Taliban suicide attacker targeted a police team near the residence of Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore on Monday, killing 26 people and injuring nearly 60 more, officials said.

Police officials said the bomber, who was on a motorcycle, detonated his explosives near policemen deployed at Kot Lakhpat vegetable market, located about 100 metres from the residence-cum-office of Shahbaz Sharif, the brother of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Lahore police chief Amin Wains confirmed it was a suicide blast.

Lahore police chief Capt (R) Amin Wains said: “A suicide bomber on a motorcycle approached the police contingent deployed at the anti-encroachment drive outside the Arfa Karim Tower, near the CM’s Model Town residence, and blew himself up.”

Nine policemen, including two officers, were among the dead. Twenty people were killed instantly and six more died in hospital. The banned Tehrik-eTaliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack. “Fida Hussain Swati - a member of our suicide squad - today attacked the infidels on a motorcycle,” TTP spokesman Muhammad Khurasani said in a statement. “Our message to the frontline allies of infidels is not to come in our way as we will impose Allah’s system on this land,” he added.

Shahbaz Sharif was in a meeting at his home in Model Town area when the explosion occurred at 3.55 pm at the busy market near the Arfa Karim Software Technology Park, officials said. Punjab government spokesperson Malik Ahmed Awan said the policemen were guarding officials of the local anti-encroachment department who were conducting an operation against illegal structures in the area . A fire erupted at the spot after the explosion, and glass panes of nearby buildings were blown out.

Local media described the area as one of the most protected neighbourhoods of Lahore, with several layers of security around the chief minister’s residence in Model Town.

Bomb blasts by militants are common in Pakistan, especially in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, but attacks in Lahore have become less frequent recently. Lahore, a city of around six million people, is Pakistan’s cultural hub and the capital of its most populous and prosperous province of Punjab.