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Attacks on Pakistan city kill 12 | Attacks on Pakistan city kill 12 |
(about 3 hours later) | |
A gun and bomb attack on an office of Pakistan's main intelligence agency in the central city of Multan has killed at least 12 people, police say. | |
More than 25 others were injured when suicide attackers opened fire. A rocket was launched during the attack and grenades were also thrown. | |
The violence came a day after bombings killed about 60 in Lahore and Peshawar. | |
More than 400 people have been killed during a string of attacks mounted by Islamist militants in recent weeks. | More than 400 people have been killed during a string of attacks mounted by Islamist militants in recent weeks. |
They coincide with an army offensive targeting the Taliban stronghold of South Waziristan in the country's north-west. | |
'Confusion' | |
Police said there were multiple attackers in Multan, two of whom were suicide bombers. | |
They said one had a rocket launcher and fired into the local offices of Pakistan's main ISI intelligence agency and that others hurled grenades before setting off a huge explosion. | |
The building was severely damaged. Emergency workers say 12 people were killed but there are warnings the number of dead may well increase. | |
No-one has yet said they were behind the attack. | No-one has yet said they were behind the attack. |
A senior police officer in Multan, Agha Mohd Yusuf, told the BBC that two to three attackers had arrived at their target in a car. | |
One of the attackers stepped out when the car reached a check point for the military area on Qasim Bela road. | |
"He put a rocket launcher on his shoulder and fired in the general direction of the office. One building was hit and collapsed," Mr Yusuf said. | |
"In the confusion that followed, the other attackers drove inside and blew up the car. This time the office of the intelligence service [Inter-Services Intelligence or ISI] agency was hit." | |
The attack in Multan is the latest in a number of commando-style attacks in Pakistan in recent months. | |
There have also been almost daily bombings across the country. | |
Monday was the bloodiest day for some weeks, with twin blasts in a packed marketplace in Lahore coming hours after a suicide attack outside a court in the north-western city of Peshawar. | |
Overnight, the death toll from the bombings in Lahore rose to 49. Scores more were injured after a fire swept through the market. |