At least 24 people have been killed in a car bombing near the offices of Pakistan's main intelligence agency in the eastern city of Faisalabad. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the blast, which also injured more than 125 people. A Taliban spokesman said the group was targeting the Inter-Services Intelligence agency, or ISI, in retaliation for the killing of a Taliban commander in the city. The car bomb ignited gas cylinders at a nearby service station, triggering an even bigger blast that damaged several buildings, including an office of Pakistan's state airline. Piles of bricks from the destroyed service station and scraps of metal from damaged cars littered the scene as rescue workers pulled victims from the rubble. Faisalabad is home to Pakistan's textile industry. The blast brought down the roof of the filling station and portions of several buildings in the vicinity including the cargo office the national carrier, Pakistan International Airlines. Many of the injured were trapped under the debris. This year has seen a spurt in attacks on offices of security personnel in not just Punjab but also Khyber Pukhtoonkhwa. Since 2009, security personnel have come in for repeated attacks in retaliation to the ongoing operations against terrorists. Meanwhile, the U.S. drones entered Pakistani territory again on Tuesday after nearly a fortnight to strike at a suspected terrorist hideout in South Waziristan. Five persons are reported to have been killed in this drone attack.
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