Bombs Shake Residents' Settlements In Pakistan, 4 People Killed Including Toddlers

Explosion Illustration. (Stephen Radford/Unsplash)

JAKARTA - A bomb attack in a residential area in the city of Lahore, eastern Pakistan, killed four people, including a child, and injured 14 others on Wednesday, June 23 local time. Police said that no one has yet claimed responsibility.

Among those injured in the devastating blast were several police officers manning a checkpoint next to the jailed home of Hafiz Saeed, the founder of the Islamist militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

"It seems that what we saw was our law enforcement agencies being targeted", Provincial Police Chief Inam Ghani said, citing Reuters on Wednesday, June 23.

"You can see our police officers are also injured", he continued.

Three people died at the scene, while a four-year-old child died from his injuries, Ghani said. Separately, Pakistani hospitals said some of those injured, including children, were in critical condition.

An eye witness at the location, Fahim Ahmad, said a car parked near a house exploded, setting fire to cars and motorbikes nearby.

"Police are investigating whether the explosives were detonated remotely or by a suicide bomber. If it weren't for the police checkpoint, the car could have reached Saeed's house", said Ghani.

Lashkar-e-Taiba was blamed for the 2008 Mumbai, India attacks that killed 166 people, several foreigners, and Americans among them. Saeed, who runs Jamat-ud-Dawa, a charity linked to the militant group, was sentenced in November to 10 years in prison after being found guilty on two counts of financing terrorism.

A spokesman for the charity told Reuters, Saeed was in prison and not at home when the explosion occurred.