Suicide Bomber Kills 13 at Protest in Pakistan<br />13, 2017<br />LAHORE, Pakistan — At least 13 people were killed, including six police officers, by a suicide bomber on Monday<br />during a protest by hundreds of pharmacists in downtown Lahore, in eastern Pakistan, officials said.<br />In Lahore, the political home of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, at least 400 pharmacists had gathered in front of the Punjab Province<br />assembly building to protest a new provincial regulatory law, causing extensive traffic congestion that lasted for hours.<br />Local officials said they had urged the protesters to move away from the assembly building<br />because earlier in the month, the federal government had warned Pakistanis of a possible terrorist attack.<br />Muhammad Iqbal, a senior police officer who is part of the provincial counterterrorism<br />department, said police officers were the target of the suicide bombing.<br />A Pakistani military spokesman called the Indian fire "unprovoked." Also, a justice of the Islamabad High Court on Monday<br />banned Valentine’s Day celebrations across the country in response to a petition that called them un-Islamic.<br />A breakaway faction of the Pakistani Taliban, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, claimed responsibility<br />for the attack and warned the government of more strikes to come.
