A suicide car bomb attack on a police intelligence unit in the eastern Pakistan city of Lahore killed at least 11 people and wounded scores more during the morning rush hour today.

The attack on the Federal Investigation Agency broke what had been a relative lull in major violence in Pakistan. It also showed that insurgents retain the ability to strike the country’s heartland, far from the Afghan border regions where al-Qaeda and the Taleban have long thrived, despite army offensives aimed at wiping them out.

No group immediately claimed responsibility, but suspicion immediately fell on the Pakistani Taleban and allied militant groups which are believed to be responsible for a wave of attacks that killed more than 600 people starting in October, including several in major Pakistani cities. More recent attacks have been smaller and confined to remote northwest regions near Afghanistan.

The bomb blast comes amid reports of a Pakistani crackdown on Afghan Taleban and al-Qaeda operatives using its soil. Among the militants said to have been arrested is the Afghan Taleban’s Number two commander, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar.

Lahore government official Khusro Pervez said 11 people had died and several of the wounded were in critical condition. It appeared the suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden car into the perimeter wall.

Hospital official Jawed Akram said the dead included at least one woman and a young girl, apparently part of a group heading to a school. Several women were wounded, he said.

Lahore has been attacked several times by militants, particularly during the bloody wave of attacks that began in October, coinciding with a major army ground offensive against the Pakistani Taliban in South Waziristan tribal area.