ISLAMABAD, Pakistan A suicide bomber rammed his motorbike into a security checkpoint in eastern Pakistan on Wednesday, killing at least seven people and wounding nearly three dozen, officials said.
The bombing on the outskirts of the city of Lahore occurred near a religious centre where an Islamic preacher was speaking, police official Haider Ashraf told dpa.
Four officers were among the dead.
The death toll could rise as some of the 32 injured were in critical condition at hospitals, Ashraf said.
No group, however, claimed immediately responsibility for the attack.
The bomber wanted to ride to the centre but blew himself up when the police officers intercepted him at the checkpoint, Punjab’s Province Law Minister Rana Sanaullah said.
Attacks in Punjab, the most populous province and where Lahore is located, are rare since the military launched a series of offensives against the militants in the country’s border regions on the Afghan border.
But the insurgents are still capable of carrying out surprise attacks on the security forces and civilians.
Around 70,000 Pakistanis have been killed in more than a decade of violence orchestrated by the militants linked to al-Qaeda and now to Daesh terror group.
Source: Nam News Network