Islamabad/Lahore, Dec 8: Militants today targeted Pakistan’s powerful ISI for the second time in less than a month as suicide
bombers struck its office in eastern Multan city detonating their vehicle packed with up to 1,000 kg of explosives, killing at least
12 people and injuring 47 others.
The militants first drove to Qasim Bela area in Multan, the home town of Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani and Foreign Minister Shah
Mahmood Qureshi in Punjab province, in a truck and attacked security personnel manning a check post with small arms and rockets.
They then drove up to the ISI office situated within the high-security cantonment area and lobbed grenades before blowing up their explosives-laden vehicle, police said.     Twelve people, including four soldiers
and four children, were killed in the attack, said officials of the state-run emergency services.
Forty seven injured people, including women and children, were taken to three nearby hospitals. Four of them were in a serious condition.
Multan Commissioner Muhammad Ali Gardezi described the assault as a suicide attack and said the target was the ISI office. But there was confusion about the number of militants involved in the incident.
Geo News channel reported a militant was arrested while trying to hide in a home near the ISI office.
It said the man was handed over to military personnel by the residents of the house he was trying to hide in.
Security forces recovered some weapons and grenades hidden in a nearby field by the militant and took him away to an undisclosed location, the channel said.
There was, however, no official word on the development.
Gardezi said two suicide bombers carried out the attack and their heads and body parts were found outside ISI office. Other reports
said three or four militants were involved.
This was the second attack targeting ISI in less than a month.
Army personnel cordoned off the site after the blast as gunship helicopters hovered overhead. A rocket launcher and some grenades were found by investigators.
The assault was the third suicide attack in Pakistan in two days. Multan is the hometown of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.

Pak govt vehicle targeted in roadside bomb blast, 2 hurt
Peshawar, Dec 8: Two government employees were injured when the vehicle they were travelling in was targeted with a roadside bomb in Pakistan’s troubled northwest today.
The blast occurred at Dapak Mandakhel area of Lakki Marwat district in North West Frontier Province, police said.
There was confusion about the department for which the two injured men worked.
Police said they were employees of a fertilizer company while other reports said they worked for the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, which has several installations in Lakki Marwat, including a uranium mine.
Both men sustained minor injuries and were taken to a nearby hospital. The windows of the vehicle were shattered by the blast. Police cordoned off the area and collected evidence.
No group claimed responsibility for the attack.

Lastupdate on : Tue, 8 Dec 2009 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Tue, 8 Dec 2009 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Wed, 9 Dec 2009 00:00:00 IST