Police: At least 7 hurt in explosion

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) - A suicide bomber exploded a car Monday at a police roadblock on the outskirts of the eastern city of Lahore, injuring at least seven police officers, officials said.

The man blew up the car as police officers moved to search it, said Police Chief Pervaiz Rathor. Two of the seven injured were in critical condition, he said.

"By putting their lives in danger, our men have saved the city from enormous sabotage," Rathor told reporters at the scene.

Witnesses described a terrifying scene of blood and body parts.

"I am still trying to come to my senses. It was horrible," Mohammad Saeed, a police constable who saw the explosion, told Geo TV.

Checkpoints, where cars are forced to drive slowly past police officers looking inside, have become common sights across Pakistan amid a surge in violence. The Lahore blast came hours after a suicide bomber killed 35 people outside a bank in the city of Rawalpindi, near the capital.

Suspected militants have struck repeatedly in the past month, killing more than 300 people in apparent retaliation for an army offensive in a Taliban stronghold.