THE death toll of the suicide blast that hit a police check post in Pakistan’s eastern city of Lahore on Wednesday evening has risen to nine, police officials said.

Deputy Inspector General of Lahore Police Haider Ashraf said that the death toll rose after two of the injured succumbed to injuries during their treatment, adding that five policemen and four civilians were killed.

Over 20 persons, including six policemen, also sustained injuries in the blast.

The police officer said that a suicide bomber exploded his explosives-laden vest near a group of policemen at a check post in Raiwind Town located on the outskirts of Lahore, the provincial capital of eastern Punjab province.

The bomber attacked the police personnel who were checking the people arriving to attend the country’s biggest annual religious congregation.

Additional contingents of police and rescue teams rushed to the site and shifted the bodies and the injured to nearby hospitals.

Chief Minister of Punjab Shahbaz Sharif condemned the attack and asked the authorities concerned to provide the best available medical treatment to the injured.

Security forces and police have launched a search operation in the area and a security high alert has also been declared in the province.

Following the attack, Police Chief of Punjab Arif Nawaz Khan directed to intensify search, sweep, combing and intelligence based operations across the province, the home of some 100 million people.

According to the local media reports, the Pakistani Taliban claimed the attack.  (Xinhua)