Daily Times

RAWALPINDI: Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Bajwa expressed grief over the loss of innocent lives in the terrorist attack in Lahore, ISPR said in a statement.

While condemning the attack, the COAS instructed local Army commander and intelligence agencies to provide all necessary assistance to the civil administration in evacuation of injured to hospitals.

Bajwa also directed the officials to apprehend those responsible for this heinous act.

At least 16 people, including senior police officers, were killed when a suspected suicide bomber hit Charing Cross, close to the Punjab Assembly, in Lahore while hundreds of demonstrators had gathered for a protest.

The owners of medical stores in Punjab had announced a demonstration near the Punjab Assembly building to protest the drug rules of the provincial government. The powerful explosion hit when hundreds of protestors were present at the location.

CCPO Lahore Ameen Vaince confirmed that Chief Traffic Officer Ahmed Mobeen has been martyred in the incident. Meanwhile, rescue sources confirmed that Senior Superintendent of Police Zahid Gondal had also been martyred.

Following the attack, police said that security has been put on red alert in Islamabad. The Inspector-General of Police Islamabad issued directives for the red alert, following which all routes going in and coming out of the federal capital were being strictly monitored.