FBI team visits Lahore's Moon market blast site

Lahore, Dec. 10 (ANI): US Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) four-member team reportedly visited Lahore's Moon market, where over 50 people were killed and dozens received serious injuries in powerful twin blasts on Monday.

According to a private television channel, the team, which was accompanied by local security officials, collected samples of explosives used in the blasts and other important evidence from the site.

Officials, however, rejected the report, saying the FBI team was only briefed on the attack and no evidence was shared with them.

Earlier, security officials and bomb disposal squad personnel had claimed that the blasts were suicide attacks.

Iqbal Town Superintendent of Police (SP) Ali Nasir Rizvi said that the bodies of the attackers had been recovered from the blast site, and initial reports suggested that they were teenagers belonging to southern Punjab.

According to Civil Defence District Officer Mazhar Ahmed, the material used in the twin blasts included ball bearings similar to that used in suicide jackets.

10 kgs of explosives were used in the blasts. There is also a possibility that some hand grenades were also used in the blasts," Ahmed had said.

DIG Investigation Shoaib Dastagir had said that the police were carrying out the investigations according to the initial information.

"The attackers have transnational roots and it's possible that they had local assistance, that is why we are investigating with the collaboration of security agencies as well," The Daily Times had quoted Dastagir, as saying. (ANI)