Taliban strike at Pakistan centre for terror interrogations

Victim: a child hurt in the Lahore blast which killed at least 12 people
12 April 2012

A suicide bomber in Pakistan killed at least 12 people today when he drove an explosives-filled car into a building where terror suspects are interrogated.

The car hit the perimeter wall but the blast was so big the two-storey block, in the north-eastern city of Lahore, collapsed and nearby buildings were damaged.

About 60 people were injured and rescuers were searching for survivors. The dead included a young girl who was believed to have been heading to school. Up to 50 people were in the building, which was occupied by Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency.

Neighbours had pleaded for the office, which was used to interrogate suspected militants, to be moved out of the residential Modeltown district.

Noorul Huda, a student who was in a nearby religious school, said: "With the huge bang, blocks and pieces of the roof fell upon us and six of us were wounded. It was total chaos outside and people were running and crying for help."

Mohammad Musharraf, who lives nearby, said: "I thought it was an earthquake. A window dislodged and fell on my son, fracturing his arm."

Up to 600kg of explosives are thought to have been used in the blast, which is being blamed on the Pakistani Taliban. Interior minister Rehman Malik claimed the attack was a sign of desperation from militants whose "backs have been broken" by the Pakistani army.

Lahore police chief Pervaiz Rathore said: "This place was used to interrogate important suspects, but presently there was none [there], but more then 40 staff were manning the place."

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