At least 20 people have been killed and more than 120 injured after a car bomb tore through a gas station in the Pakistani city of Faisalabad.

巴基斯坦城市费萨尔巴德的一座加油站遭受汽车炸弹袭击，至少20人死亡、120人受伤。

The bomb caused several gas cylinders¹（煤气罐） at the station to explode, destroying cars and buildings.

Police said that the number of dead could rise as many of the injured were in a critical condition.

Militants³ regularly bomb targets across Pakistan, but this is the first bombing in Faisalabad in recent years.

The Pakistani Taliban said they carried out the attack, saying it was to avenge⁴（报复） the death in custody⁵ of one of their members.

Compressed natural gas is a popular fuel in Pakistan and there were thought to be many vehicles at the gas station when the car bomb exploded.

"It was not a suicide attack," Faisalabad city commissioner⁶ Tahir Husain said. "The bomb exploded near the gas cylinders that triggered a bigger blast."

'Like an earthquake'

It is not clear whether the station was the intended target.

Correspondents say there are a number of sensitive locations in the area such as government offices, a police station and the offices of Pakistan's ISI spy agency.

The blast was so large that, according to witnesses, it reduced the station to a heap（堆） of twisted metal and rubble⁷.

A security guard at the nearby office of Pakistan International Airlines said: "The earth moved as in an earthquake, and there was thick smoke all around."

Another eyewitness⁸, Hussain, described the panic to AFP news agency: "Everybody was running here and there to save his life. I saw injured people and dead bodies scattered⁹ here and there."

Heavy diggers and cranes（起重机） have been brought in because there are believed to be survivors¹⁰ still trapped in the debris¹¹.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has expressed his sorrow over the deaths.

Punjab militancy¹²

Faisalabad is a key hub for Pakistan's textile（纺织的） industry and has seen sectarian（宗派的） and religious shootings in the past.

But it has not been targeted by militants who have carried out bomb attacks across Pakistan in recent years.

The city is in Pakistan's Punjab province where pro-Taliban militant² groups have been increasing in strength.

There has been no claim of responsibility so far, but officials have indicated they believe the Taliban are responsible.

The Pakistani Taliban have launched attacks on security establishments with devastating¹³ effect on a number of occasions in the past few years.

Pakistan's military regularly launch offensives against militant strongholds（据点，要塞） in the tribal¹⁴ areas bordering Afghanistan in the north-west of the country.