Pakistan: Blast near major Sufi shrine in Lahore

Blast outside the Data Darbar shrine kills at least eight people and wounds many more, officials say.
Islamabad, Pakistan – At least eight people have been killed and more than 24 wounded in a blast outside a prominent Sufi shrine in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore, rescue and police officials said.
The blast took place on Wednesday morning targeting a police security vehicle outside the Data Darbar shrine in Pakistan’s second largest city.
The eight people killed included five policemen, provincial police chief Arif Nawaz told reporters shortly after the attack.“We are still investigating whether it was an IED [improvised explosive device] or a suicide attack,” said Ashfaq Ahmed, a senior police official.
Footage from the scene showed a badly damaged police vehicle and debris strewn in front of the shrine.
“They were elite [police] officers standing there for security at Gate Two of the Data Darbar [shrine],” Ahmed told reporters. Rescue services spokesman Muhammad Farooq told Al Jazeera that at least five of those wounded were in critical condition and being treated at Lahore’s Mayo Hospital. “The rescue operation at the site of the blast has been completed. Investigating agencies are now at the scene and are doing their work,” he said. Nawaz, the provincial police chief, said police were the target of the bombing.
“Police were the target because the direction [the attacker] came from, he could have done a lot of damage [in the market], but he went straight to the vehicle,” he said.
Source: aljazeera.com