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Pakistan bomb kills four in Lahore restaurant district | |
(about 5 hours later) | |
At least four people were killed and dozens injured when a bomb went off in a busy food street in Pakistan's eastern city of Lahore, officials say. | |
Local media said the explosion happened as people sat eating at restaurants in the Anarkali area on Saturday night. | Local media said the explosion happened as people sat eating at restaurants in the Anarkali area on Saturday night. |
At least 30 people were believed to have been wounded, with some in a critical condition. Children were reportedly among the casualties. | |
There was no immediate claim of responsibility. | There was no immediate claim of responsibility. |
The attack was the first of its kind for three years in Lahore, the capital of Pakistan's Punjab province and home city of newly elected Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. | |
However, there has been a series of attacks around the country since Mr Sharif was sworn in last month - blamed on Islamist groups including the Pakistan Taliban - which have left more than 150 people dead. | |
'Chaos everywhere' | |
The bomb was placed in an outdoor eating area in the old part of Lahore and detonated at a particularly busy part of the evening. | |
Pictures taken shortly after the explosion show broken chairs and tables lying on the ground. | |
Eyewitnesses reported seeing windowpanes smashed and furniture from the food stalls destroyed. | |
"The blast site is just few metres away and the blast was so loud that I was stunned for a while," shopkeeper Naseed Ahmed told Reuters. | "The blast site is just few metres away and the blast was so loud that I was stunned for a while," shopkeeper Naseed Ahmed told Reuters. |
"There was chaos everywhere." | "There was chaos everywhere." |
Local resident Mohammad Anwer said more should be done to protect people. | |
"This happened on the weekend when there is huge crowd gathered here," he told Reuters news agency. | |
"The government should do something about these kinds of incidents. People feel very insecure." | |
Police official Zulfiqar Hameed said the bomb was connected to a deep freezer in one of the restaurants, according to the news agency. | Police official Zulfiqar Hameed said the bomb was connected to a deep freezer in one of the restaurants, according to the news agency. |
Mr Sharif has called on the leaders of all major political parties to meet on Friday to discuss initial ideas for a new security strategy to tackle the growing threat posed by militants. | |
But the BBC's Richard Galpin in the capital Islamabad says it could be months before any plan comes into effect. |
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