Among the dead were 16 policemen, an army officer and many civilians, including a 12-year-old boy. — AFP

LAHORE Terrorists struck Lahore for the third time in as many months with the emergency response police bearing the brunt of a brutal suicide attack on Wednesday that left a total of 26 people dead.
 
A van carrying high-intensity explosives hit a police checkpost outside the offices of the Rescue-15 and the Inter-Services Intelligence on Lawrence Road on Wednesday morning, leaving behind a trail of blood and an administration seeking urgent answers to control the reign of terror.

Among the dead were 16 policemen, an army officer and many civilians including a 12-year-old boy. Officials at the city morgue said two of the bodies were as yet unidentified.

More than 251 others were injured, rescue services were looking for survivors trapped in the rubble late into the night. It was feared that the death toll may also rise.

The incident took place at a heavily guarded entry point to the offices of Rescue-15 and the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) as well as to the official residences of police officers at the Plaza Cinema Chowk at around 1010am.

The buildings are adjacent to the offices of Lahore's police chief and are only yards away from the old Freemason's Hall where the Punjab chief minister has his secretariat. Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif was at his Defence residence at the time of the explosion.

It couldn't be confirmed whether or not the capital city police chief, Pervaiz Rathore, was in his office at the time of the blast.
   
The terrorists tried to hit the buildings of the law-enforcement agencies after breaking the security cordon. The explosion was so intense that it created a 15-foot-wide crater on the road, razed the Rescue-15 building and badly damaged the ISI building and a number of flats serving as the police officers' residences. 
 
At least three terrorists, who according to the police were killed in the suicide attack, had managed to enter the high- security zone in a Toyota Hiace van laden with high quality explosives.
 
Two of the attackers came out of the van, hurled a grenade at the police and another one in the direction of a nearby petrol station, and opened indiscriminate fire.

The third accomplice rammed the explosive-laden van into the barrier when the security officials returned their fire, witnesses and police said.

The driver of the van managed to break first the barrier and blew the vehicle up at the second after failing to penetrate the police defence.

I saw a white van parked near the barriers, said Khalilur Rehman, who works as a cleaner at a car show room at Queen's Road. A young man, who appeared to be in his 20s, disembarked and opened fire in all directions. The firing continued for a couple of minutes and then there was a big explosion. We were left benumbed.
 
Rehman suffered minor head wounds when he was hit by flying debris and was provided first aid at the hospital.

Witnesses said the firing went on for several minutes after the blast. It was later explained as a defensive ploy by the security officials.

The toll of the explosion was heavy. No less than 70 vehicles and motorcycles and dozens of adjacent and nearby buildings, mostly used for shops and offices, were damaged.

The blast caused damage to property in a radius of two kilometers while the explosion was heard by people several kilometers away.

Rescuers moved fast to recover the injured and the dead from under the debris and shifted the injured to various city hospitals where an emergency had been declared.

A senior army officer present in the ISI office at the time of the blast was killed while another officer was said to be in a stable condition in hospital.

The Pakistan Army and Rangers were in charge of the operations at the blast site. Troops took positions on rooftops in the nearby buildings. The army's medical unit carried out rescue activity along with the civilian Rescue-1122 and Edhi.

A senior police officer, who did no want to be named, told Dawn the police had taken some suspects into custody for interrogation.

He said the building collapse destroyed the police CCTV cameras and were thus denied help from CCTV footage.

Quoting the bomb disposal squad officials, he said the terrorists used around 125 kg explosives.

This was the third serious terror attack in Lahore since the March 3 assault on the Sri Lankan cricketers at Liberty Roundabout.

On March 30, terrorists besieged a police training school in Manawan, a suburb of Lahore, for many hours. In the wake of Wednesday's attack, a possible security lapse by the government was again a moot point.