The government of Pakistan is blaming Islamic militants for an attack in the city of Lahore today that killed or wounded hundreds. Anchor Lisa Mullins gets the details from the BBC's Barbara Plett.
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LISA MULLINS: This is The World. I'm Lisa Mullins. Pakistani officials are blaming the Taliban for a lethal attack today in the central city of Lahore, Pakistan. That attack left at least two dozen people dead, and more than 200 injured. There were at least two security buildings that were damaged or destroyed including one belonging to the Secret Intelligence of Pakistan. Pakistan is in the midst of a military campaign against the Taliban in the Swat Valley, but it's not clear if today's attack is related to that. The BBC's Barbara Plett has been following the story from Islamabad.
BARBARA PLETT: At around 10:30 in the morning local time, a van drove up to a police building in the center of the City of Lahore and at least four men got out and started shooting at the police check post and then after that, the vehicle blew up. It was a massive explosion. The crater was about 15 to 20 feet deep. Of course, people in the center of town panicked. They went running for cover when the gunfire started and then the big explosion. They weren't quite sure what had happened. Some people said they even thought it might have been an earthquake.
MULLINS: So the vehicle that the perpetrators were in blew up when it was being fired on by the police. What does that tell us about what the motive might have been and do we know anything about the suspects?
PLETT: Well, the government has already strongly suggested that this attack might be in retaliation for army operations against the Pakistani Taliban, and this is because the Taliban have threatened to attack targets inside Pakistani cities.
MULLINS: So then when an attack, as you say, is as audacious as this one was occurs, people panic but in the long term does it make anyone in Pakistan less inclined to see their government aggressively go after the Taliban?
PLETT: Well, that's an open question at the moment. We're in an unusual period because there is a fair bit of public support for the army operation against the Taliban in the Swat Valley. The traditional position of many Pakistanis has been that they don't like the army fighting the Taliban because they see it as Pakistanis killing Pakistanis at the behest of America. Now, it's not clear the Taliban themselves would have actually carried out the attack. It might be difficult for them to infiltrate into the city and organize such a sophisticated attack, but it is thought that they do have some local support in the form of Islamic militant groups which are based in the province. These groups have very sophisticated tactics, and the style of the attack that we saw in Lahore is similar to others that they have been blamed for.
MULLINS: All right. The BBC's Barbara Plett. Thank you.
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