巴基斯坦自殺炸彈襲擊至少六人喪生

A suicide bomber has killed at least six people in eastern Pakistan, including several soldiers.

Authorities said that a van transporting census officials in Lahore, capital of the country's most populous Punjab province, was the target of Wednesday's attack. The Pakistani Taliban has claimed responsibility for the deadly bombing.

The blast wounded around 20 people. Provincial Minister of Health, Khwaja Imran Nazir, said three of them were in "critical" condition.

“Doctors are operating upon them, and God willing they will recover. The rest of the patients are in a stable condition,” he added.

An eyewitness told reporters he was sitting at home across the street with his family when they heard the blast.

“We came running here and saw bodies of the victims scattered all over while those wounded were crying for help,” the man said.

Counterterrorism officials retrieved body parts of the suspected bomber and an investigation has been launched into the attack, according to provincial police.

Pakistan last month went ahead with its first national census in 19 years, deploying around 120,000 civilian enumerators and 200,000 Pakistani troops to support them. The massive exercise is due to be concluded by the end of May.

The Pakistani Taliban has stepped up attacks in Pakistan since the beginning of this year, killing scores of people.

Islamabad alleges militants are plotting the violence against the country from their sanctuaries inside neighboring Afghanistan, charges Kabul rejects.巴基斯坦東部發生自殺炸彈襲擊，至少六人喪生，其中包括幾名軍人。

有關當局說，在人口最密集的旁遮普省省會拉合爾，一輛運載人口普查官員的箱型車是星期三的襲擊目標。巴基斯坦的塔利班宣稱對這次襲擊負責。

爆炸造成約20人受傷。拉合爾省衛生部長赫瓦賈·伊姆蘭·納齊爾說，其中3人有生命危險。他說：“醫生正在對他們進行手術，上帝保佑他們能康復。其餘患者情況比較穩定。”

一位目擊者對記者說，他與家人一起坐在家裏，突然聽到街對面的爆炸聲。

他說：“我們跑過來，看到到處都散落着的遇難者的屍體，受傷的人哭着求助。”

拉合爾警方表示，反恐官員找到了自殺炸彈殺手嫌疑人屍體的部分肢體，正在對襲擊進行調查。

巴基斯坦3月開始了19年來第一次人口普查，派出了12萬統計人員，並出動20萬政府軍協助。這次人口普查定於5月底結束。

巴基斯坦塔利班自今年初開始在巴基斯坦境內加大襲擊力度，已造成大批人死亡。

巴基斯坦政府指稱策劃暴力攻擊的激進分子藏身在鄰國阿富汗。阿富汗否認這個指稱。