Gunmen have attacked two mosques of the minority Ahmadi Islamic sect in the Pakistani city of Lahore, killing at least 70 people, officials say.
The death toll has been rising as rescuers pull bodies from the mosques, which were packed for Friday midday prayers at the time of the attacks.
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.
Gunmen are reported to be holding worshippers as hostages inside the mosque in the heavily built-up Garhi Shahu area.
'Indiscriminate' firing
Police say they have taken control of the other mosque, in the nearby Model Town area, after a two-hour gunfight. One militant was killed and two others have been arrested, police say.
A dozen ambulances have taken the dead and injured to hospitals.
Eyewitnesses told the BBC the gunmen launched simultaneous attacks on the two mosques.
A number of gunmen were reported to have opened fire indiscriminately in the Model Town mosque.
They were said to be armed with AK-47 rifles, shotguns, grenades and possibly other explosive devices.
TV footage showed one attacker atop a minaret, firing an assault rifle and throwing grenades as police engaged in a fierce gunfight with militants below. Punjab police chief Tariq Salim Dogar said fighting was continuing at the Garhi Shahu mosque.
Mr Dogar said: "Our immediate priority is to reach the injured and take them to hospital, and to capture the terrorists if they are still inside the mosque."
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 pastWhile the Ahmadis consider themselves Muslim and follow all Islamic rituals, they were declared non-Muslim in Pakistan in 1973, and in 1984 they were legally barred from proselytising or identifying themselves as Muslims.
The group has in the past been targeted by radical Sunni groups - who consider the Ahmadis infidels.
Members of the community have often been mobbed, or gunned down in targeted attacks, says the BBC's M Ilyas Khan in Islamabad.
But this is the first time their places of worship have suffered daring and well-coordinated attacks that bear the mark of Taliban militants, our correspondent adds.
-BBC News
A friend just called me from Texas telling me what happened, just woke up to read this. I probably have a dozen family members that go these mosques for and probably even more that are friends of my family.
The death toll has been rising as rescuers pull bodies from the mosques, which were packed for Friday midday prayers at the time of the attacks.
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.
Gunmen are reported to be holding worshippers as hostages inside the mosque in the heavily built-up Garhi Shahu area.
'Indiscriminate' firing
Police say they have taken control of the other mosque, in the nearby Model Town area, after a two-hour gunfight. One militant was killed and two others have been arrested, police say.
A dozen ambulances have taken the dead and injured to hospitals.
Eyewitnesses told the BBC the gunmen launched simultaneous attacks on the two mosques.
A number of gunmen were reported to have opened fire indiscriminately in the Model Town mosque.
They were said to be armed with AK-47 rifles, shotguns, grenades and possibly other explosive devices.
TV footage showed one attacker atop a minaret, firing an assault rifle and throwing grenades as police engaged in a fierce gunfight with militants below. Punjab police chief Tariq Salim Dogar said fighting was continuing at the Garhi Shahu mosque.
Mr Dogar said: "Our immediate priority is to reach the injured and take them to hospital, and to capture the terrorists if they are still inside the mosque."
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 pastWhile the Ahmadis consider themselves Muslim and follow all Islamic rituals, they were declared non-Muslim in Pakistan in 1973, and in 1984 they were legally barred from proselytising or identifying themselves as Muslims.
The group has in the past been targeted by radical Sunni groups - who consider the Ahmadis infidels.
Members of the community have often been mobbed, or gunned down in targeted attacks, says the BBC's M Ilyas Khan in Islamabad.
But this is the first time their places of worship have suffered daring and well-coordinated attacks that bear the mark of Taliban militants, our correspondent adds.
-BBC News
A friend just called me from Texas telling me what happened, just woke up to read this. I probably have a dozen family members that go these mosques for and probably even more that are friends of my family.
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