Deadly attack on mosques in Pakistani city of Lahore

Gunmen have attacked two mosques of the minority Ahmadi Islamic sect in the Pakistani city of Lahore, killing at least 16 people, officials say.

It is feared the death-toll will rise, as gunfire and explosions are continuing at one of the mosques. Both were attacked during Friday prayers.

Police are reported to have entered one of the buildings, while a stand-off continues at the second.

Lahore has been the scene of a string of brazen militant attacks.

The BBC's Aleem Maqbool in Islamabad says the attacks appear to be sectarian in nature.

'Indiscriminate' firing

Eyewitnesses told the BBC a number of gunmen had launched simultaneous attacks on one mosque in the Model Town area of Pakistan's second city, and a second in the heavily built-up Garhi Shahu area.

A number of gunmen were reported to have opened fire indiscriminately in the Model Town mosque.

The gunmen were reportedly armed with AK-47 rifles, shotguns, grenades and possibly other explosive devices.

Witnesses said police had entered the mosque and were now searching the premises, where gunfire has stopped. A dozen ambulances have taken dead and injured to hospitals.

A stand-off at the second mosque is ongoing and a number of gunmen are believed to be holding worshippers as hostages, witnesses say.

The attacks come after at least 45 people were killed in March when two suicide bombers attacked a crowded residential area.

Sectarian attacks have been carried out by various militant groups in Punjab province, and across Pakistan in the past.

In Pakistan the Ahmadis have been declared a non-Muslim minority and have been subject to a number of restrictions.

The group has been targeted by radical Sunni groups in the past.

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