Gunmen attacked a police headquarters in the Pakistani city of Lahore today, setting off a car-bomb that killed at least 24 people in what the government said was revenge for an offensive against the Taliban.
However, there was no claim of responsibility for the attack, which wounded nearly 300 people and caused extensive damage.
The bombing came after warnings of retaliation in response to the army's attack on militants in the Swat region in the northwest and the day after Gen David Petraeus, head of US Central Command, was in Islamabad for meetings with government and military leaders.
The United States needs Pakistani action against militants to help defeat al-Qaeda and disrupt support for the Taliban in Afghanistan. It has welcomed the Swat offensive.
"I believe that anti-Pakistan elements, who want to destabilise our country and see defeat in Swat, have now turned to our cities," Interior Minister Rehman Malik told reporters.
Two officers and six lower level officials from the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency were among those killed, according to a senior government official.
The bomb, which officials said was a suicide attack, brought down a government ambulance service building and damaged a nearby office of the military's main intelligence agency. Security officials said the ISI might have been the main target.
Officials said 285 people were wounded, and rescuers said the toll could rise.
Just before the blast two men got out of a car and fired at police guards at the gate, provincial Law Minister Rana Sanaullah told reporters, adding several suspects were later detained. Witnesses said about four gunmen started firing.
Militant violence has surged in Pakistan since mid-2007, with numerous attacks on the security forces, as well as government and Western targets. Officials had warned militants might launch attacks in retaliation for the offensive in Swat, where the military says about 15,000 soldiers face 4,000 to 5,000 militants.
Today's bombing was the fifth since fighting in the region intensified in late April.
President Asif Ali Zardari called top officials to a meeting to review security, and said the militants were on the run and were trying to create panic, his office said.
Reuters