Deadly blasts hit Pakistan city
At least 40 killed as twin explosions rip through military vehicles in Lahore.
Rescue workers, however, gave a lower death toll.
“We have 25 to 30 killed and have 70 injured in different hospitals,” Faheem Jehanzeb, a rescue service spokesman, told the AFP news agency.
A senior security official, speaking to the AFP on condition of anonymity, put the death toll at 29.
Pools of blood
Afzal Awan, an eye witness, said he saw several people, some with missing limbs, lying in pools of blood after the explosions.
“I saw smoke rising everywhere,” Awan told reporters. “A lot of people were crying.”
Mohammad Shafiq, a police official, said: “There were two suicide bombers who attacked two military vehicles within the space of 15 seconds.
“The heads of both attackers have been found.”
Naveed Hassan, another police official, said gunshots were heard after the explosions hit the vehicles.
No group claimed responsibility for the blasts, but suspicion quickly fell on the Pakistani Taliban and al-Qaeda.
Pakistani authorities have said security crackdowns have weakened Pakistani Taliban fighting to topple the US-backed government.
Aside from an insurgency at home, Pakistan is also under heavy American pressure to open a new front and go after Afghan Taliban militants in border sanctuaries.