Twin blasts kill 12 in central Pakistani city

ISLAMABAD, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- At least 12 people including four security men and eight civilians were killed and 20 others injured as twin bomb blasts ripped through an army area in the central Pakistani city of Multan on Tuesday, police said.

The blast occurred near the office of spy agency ISI and an army school at Qasim Bela area in Multan at 12:10 p.m. local time (0710 GMT), they said. Several school children were among the injured, hospital sources said.

Rescue teams, police and other relief teams arrived on the spot. Police put security cordon around the whole area of blast site. Also, a military helicopter is hovering over the area for surveillance.

The injured are being shifted to the nearby hospitals, where state of emergency has been declared.

According to TV reports, at least 20 injured including children and women were brought to hospitals.

The blast was so powerful that the windowpanes of the nearby buildings were smashed to pieces. The media is being denied access to the blasts site due to the sensitivity of the area.

The bomb disposal squad said that 15 to 16 kg explosive material was used in the blast. No group claimed responsibility for the attack.

An eyewitness said he was passing from the area when he heard alow-intensity blast followed by a massive explosion, adding the ISI building was more than half damaged as a result of bombings.

Another eyewitness said that the gunshots were fired before the blasts.

Some people are feared to be trapped under the rubble of the damaged building.

It should be mentioned that the blast occurred in the constituency of Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani.

The attack was the latest to shake Pakistan's major cities since this year's launch of strong military offensives against Taliban insurgents in the Swat Valley and South Waziristan tribal areas. On Monday evening another twin blasts in the eastern city of Lahore left 49 dead and over 180 wounded.