Bomb Blasts Rocks Pakistan, Injures Scores

Bomb Blasts Rocks Pakistan, Injures Scores

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A series of bomb blasts rocked various cities in Pakistan Monday, leaving scores of people injured, reports said.

According to the Associated Press of Pakistan, a powerful bomb exploded in Lahore, capital of Punjab province, injuring at least 36 persons, some of them in critical condition.

The locally-made 1.5-kilogram bomb blew off at a crowded market at 13:20 p.m. local time (0820 GMT), shattering window panes of nearby buildings, witnesses said.

Many people were injured in a stampede as fire broke out after the blast.

Nobody has so far claimed responsibility of the blast. "It is an act of terrorism aimed at causing widespread damages," said a senior police officer Javed Noor when contacted through telephone.

Similar blasts also occurred in another Punjabi city of Faisalabad and Hyderabad, a major city in southern province of Sindh, and casualties were reported in both incidents.

A low-intensity blast that took place at the railway station of Faisalabad, the third largest city of the country, inflicted injuries to three persons on Monday morning.

Five persons received minor injuries when an explosive device went off in a bus near Hyderabad on Monday.

Monday was Pakistan's public holiday in commemoration of the country's founder Ali Jinnah and the people rushed to markets for shopping for the Muslim festival of Eid, which will fall on Wednesday or Thursday.

The security arrangements have been further beefed up throughout the country to avert recurrence of any such incident, police sources said.