24 Killed in Double Lahore Suicide Blasts

At least 24 people were killed and 200 injured when two suicide bombings ripped through buildings in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore today.

The blasts were the latest escalation of a militant campaign against government targets.

The largest of the two attacks happened at the headquarters of the Federal Investigations Agency (FIA) as employees were arriving for work at around 9.30am.

At least 21 people, including 16 police officers and a three-year-old girl were killed, officials said.

The blast shredded the front of the seven-story offices and rocked buildings across a wide radius, shattering windows.

"It was like hell let loose on us," resident Fazal Muqeem told the Associated Press.

Local television showed rescuers scrambling to pull survivors from the wrecked building amid fears it could collapse. The death toll is expected to rise.

A few hours after the explosion, the Australian cricket team canceled a forthcoming tour of Pakistan on security grounds.

A smaller blast happened at the offices of an advertising agency in a residential area when a pair of suicide bombers rammed their way through the front gate. A gardener was seriously injured and two of his children were killed.

The owner of the agency, Salman Batalwi, said he could not understand why he had been targeted, but noted that Bilawal House, a Lahore house associated with the assassinated opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, was situated nearby.

"Maybe they had the wrong address," he added.

The Pakistani president, Pervez Musharraf, condemned the "savage" bombings and said they "cannot deter" the government's resolve to fight terrorism "with full force", according to the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan.

The blasts are the latest in a string of attacks against military and police targets increasingly focused on Lahore, the previously peaceful capital of Punjab province.

Last week, a double suicide blast killed four people in the car park of the Navy War College, near the FIA headquarters, and a suicide bomber killed 20 policemen outside the city's high court in January.

The violence is increasing in sophistication as well as volume. Most attacks feature pairs of suicide attackers, drawing ominous comparisons with Iraq.

More than 500 people have died in Pakistan over the past three months in a combination of suicide blasts and army operations against pro-Taliban militants in the tribal belt along the Afghan border.

Amir Rana, the director of the Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies, said the bombings were a response to the US-financed tribal operations.

"They want to send the message that if you carry on operation in our areas, then the Punjab is not far from us," he said.

No group has claimed responsibility for today's blasts, but security analysts point to a worrying nexus of tribal fighters, al-Qaida fugitives, and jihadist militants.

The blasts underline the stark challenge facing Bhutto's widower, Asif Zadari, and the opposition leader Nawaz Sharif as they come together to form a coalition government.

Musharraf today said he would convene the new parliament on March 17.

Ahsan Iqbal, a spokesman for Sharif's party, blamed the president's policies and reiterated calls for his resignation.

"He has become very symbolic and controversial for these reactionary forces. If he goes at least it will be a breakthrough to give the people and the country a chance for a new opening," he said.

In Lahore, small groups of enraged residents gathered on the main Mall Road, chanting: "Musharraf is a dog, Musharraf is a pimp".

However, Rana said the violence was unlikely to stop even if he was ousted. "These are the same people were involved in sectarian clashes in the 80s and 90s," he said. "Now their fight has transformed into a global jihadist agenda."