Powerful blast outside Lahore High Court kills 22

At least 22 dead, 60 wounded in a suicide bomb attack in Lahore. Attack targeted the police and a lawyers' rally. A police official said that the bomber was riding a motorcycle near the HC and blew himself up when asked to stop by the police. Death toll is expected to rise.

Explosion was timed to cause maximum damage, says police. The officers were gathering outside the court building ahead of a protest by lawyers against the rule of Musharraf. There has seen a massive rise in Pakistan suicide bombings since 2007. According to the Interior Ministry, the country was hit by over 50 suicide attacks last year, which claimed at least 3,000 lives.

A red alert was sounded in Pakistan's four provinces in the wake of the blast and security was stepped up around key government buildings and vital installations in the federal capital of Islamabad and the nearby garrison city of Rawalpindi.