Pakistan’s government has blamed Taliban fighters for a bomb attack in Lahore which killed 23 people and left hundreds more injured.
A group of men shot at police officers before detonating a powerful car bomb, damaging buildings belonging to the police and intelligence agency the ISI. Rescuers are searching the rubble and warn that the death toll could rise. Officials said the Taliban carried out the attack in revenge for a military offensive against them in Swat valley.
Interior Minister Rehman Malik told reporters: “Enemies of Pakistan who want to destabilise the country are coming here after their defeat in Swat. “There is a war, and this is a war for our survival.”
A group calling itself Tehrik-i-Taliban Punjab claimed responsibility for the bombing in a Turkish-language statement posted on jihadist websites, the SITE monitoring group said.