26 killed in suicide bombing in Pakistan

8220;It was a suicide attack,8221; said Malik Iqbal, police chief of Lahore, the capital of eastern Punjab province of Pakistan, adding police were 8220;definitely8221; targeted.

He said the attacker was on foot and detonated his explosives at 11.45 am local time on a busy thoroughfare near a police picket at the General Post Office Chowk close to the Lahore High Court ahead of the lawyers8217; protest march to press for reinstatement of judges sacked during last year8217;s emergency.

A red alert was sounded in Pakistan8217;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.

Four passers-by and 22 policemen died in the blast. The condition of 15 of the injured was described as critical.

Interior ministry spokesman Javed Iqbal Cheema also said the policemen were the target of the suicide bomber.

Around 100 riot policemen had been deployed at the square as lawyers were planning to organise a protest march seeking reinstatement of deposed judges.

The lawyers were holding a meeting inside the Lahore High Court building at the time of the blast and were safe, witnesses said. The protest was put off following the blast.