Twin Bombing in Army Area of Pakistan’s Lahore Kills 20 People

Two suicide bombings in Pakistan’s Lahore killed at least 20 people and wounded 45 others, the second attack in the city this week, police and rescue services said.

Bombers targeted two cars in a convoy of army vehicles as they drove through an area where military officers are based, Chaudhry Shafeeq, a police spokesman, told reporters in Lahore. Most of those killed and injured are army members, he said.

A suicide car bombing outside a Pakistan police building in the same city, Pakistan’s second largest, killed 12 people on March 8, the first attack this year on major northern cities struck repeatedly by Taliban militants in late 2009.

Pakistan’s government blames the Tehrik-e-Taliban militant network based in tribal areas bordering Afghanistan for the terrorist attacks. The militants have increased bombings and gun attacks after the army launched its biggest offensive against Taliban guerrillas in October.

The first explosion today occurred at 12:48 p.m. local time on a road near Lahore’s RA Bazar, according to Rescue 1122. The second blast followed seconds later, it said. Lahore is Pakistan’s cultural center and is located to the southeast of the capital, Islamabad.

Since the army operation began last year, terrorists have hit major cities and towns killing at least 800 people. In a major setback for the Taliban, Pakistan says their leader, Hakimullah Mehsud, was killed by a missile fired from a U.S. drone aircraft in January. The Taliban deny Mehsud is dead.