Bloody Friday in Lahore

It was the first major attack on Ahmadis in the Punjab capital.

One of terrorists was captured unhurt by security forces in the Model Town locality when he failed to blow himself up, intelligence sources said, adding that the 30-year-old man has been taken to an unknown location. The nine others either blew themselves up or were killed by police. "A joint team of investigators is interrogating the arrested terrorist," security sources said but did not give further details.

No group claimed responsibility for the brazen attacks in the Model Town and Garhi Shahu areas of Lahore. "These were coordinated and interlinked attacks," a security source, who did not want to be identified, said.

More than five hours after the attacks began, the police took control of the Baitul Zikr in Garhi Shahu area and found dozens of bodies strewn across the floor.

The attacks began minutes apart at Model Town and Garhi Shahu mosques, each of which was packed with more than 2,000 people.

Police and rescue workers said at least 50 people were killed in the Garhi Shahu attack and more than hundred injured, while 30 people were found dead in Model Town and more than 50 injured.

Pakistan's leading rights group said the community had received threats for more than a year and officials blamed the attack on militants, who have killed more than 3,370 people in bombings over the last three years.

The attacks sparked hours of gunbattles between police and commandos, as bursts of heavy gunfire rocked the neighborhoods and rescue services raced through the streets to tend to the victims.

Investigators said the bearded, shalwar-wearing attackers were armed with AK-47 rifles, shotguns, grenades and possibly rocket-launchers. The terrorists fired a rocket launcher from Baitul Zikr in the Garhi Shahu area that hit a nearby two-story building. Several vehicles were also damaged while some passers-by sustained bullet wounds, Kazinform cites Arab News. See www.arabnews.com for full version.