The cause of the blast was not immediately clear, but the possibility of a suicide bomber was not excluded. The Pakistani Taliban has claimed the attack with a message sent to media. This terrorist organisation, based along the Afghan border in Pakistan, is alleged to be allied with Afghanistan’s Taliban insurgents, but its focus is on the Pakistani government.

The blast happened on Ferozepur Road, near the Arfa Software Technology Park, that is the location of the public university Information Technology University (ITU). Unauthorised street vendors and police officials, who were clearing them, crowded the area of the attack. The death toll included both policemen and civilians. There were many injured, appearing to be  in critical conditions.

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif (who resigned few days after) condemned the blast. According to Haider Ashraf, deputy inspector general of Punjab police, the target of the attack was actually the police. Over the last months, the Pakistani Taliban has repeatedly hit the country with several bomb attacks, most of them in Lahore.

To know more, read:

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/07/deadly-explosion-rocks-pakistani-city-lahore-170724115923548.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/07/24/least-15-killed-lahore-blast-attack-near-government-building/
http://www.ilpost.it/2017/07/28/primo-ministro-pakistano-nawaz-sharif-rimosso-incarico/
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pakistan-blast-idUSKBN1A91F2