At least 8 dead and 25 wounded in suicide bombing at Sufi temple in Pakistan

At least 8 people died and 25 others were wounded in a suicide bomber attack on a police patrol next to a Sufi temple frequented in the city of Lahorein eastern Pakistan, official sources said.

"Eight people, including five policemen, were killed and 25 others wounded, including agents," said the chief of police of Punjab, Arif Nawaz Khan, At a press conference, which stated that "about seven kilograms of explosives were used in the suicide attack directed one hundred percent against the police".

The attack took place at the entrance of the Sufi Temple of Data Darbar at 08:45 local time. (03:45 GMT), a source in the police control room in Lahore, Muhammad Ishfaq, told Efe.

According to the source, the goal was a van of the police elite force of Punjab province He was on patrol for the holy month of Muslim Ramadan, which began yesterday in the Asian nation.

"Due to the month of Ramadan, security has been strengthened, especially in places of worship and temples"explained Ishfaq.

The Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, condemned "downright" the blast and expressed "his sentence for the loss of life"Khan's office said in a statement.

EOn March 12, at least 20 people died, nearly half of them belong to the Shiite minority Hazara and 40 were injured by the explosion of a concealed bomb, claimed by the Islamic State group (EI), in a bag of potatoes in a market in western Pakistan.

Terrorist violence has significantly decreased in Pakistan since the launch by the military of an operation in the Northwest Tribal Areas in June 2014, which then spread to the rest of the country.

During this operation, 3,500 suspected terrorists died, according to the military data not independently verified.

(With information from EFE)