A suicide bomber killed at least 22 people and wounded more than 70 when he blew himself up among police waiting outside a court in Pakistan for the start of an anti-government protest.

The blast in front of Lahore High Court was the latest in a wave of attacks targeting politicians and security forces in the run up to parliamentary elections on February 18. Doctors said that all but two of the dead were policemen.

"There were about 60 to 70 policemen on duty when a man rammed into our ranks and soon there was a huge explosion," said Syed Imtiaz Hussain, a police officer, who suffered wounds to his legs and groin. "I saw the bodies of other policemen burning. It was like Hell."

The explosion left wounded people lying in pools of blood crying for help. TV footage showed at least four mangled bodies on the ground close to a destroyed motorbike and smoking debris. Ambulance workers loaded victims on to stretchers as police sirens wailed in the background.

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The blast fired shrapnel as far as 100 yards. It also shattered windows in the court house and set off volleys of teargas shells carried by the police, preventing people getting close to the victims in the seconds after the attack, witnesses said.

Police constable Jameel Ahmed said that the attacker was a man aged about 25 who had arrived outside the court on a motorbike. “He parked his bike and walked to the police and blew himself up,” Ahmed said.

An Associated Press photographer saw the severed head of a man with long hair and beard, possibly that of the suicide bomber. Police bomb disposal experts estimated the bomb contained up to 14kg (30lb) of explosive.

The police had been deployed in front of the court before a weekly lawyers’ protest against President Pervez Musharraf over his dismissal of Supreme Court judges in November. The rally had been due to start about 15 minutes before the bomb went off. About 200 lawyers were inside the High Court at the time of the blast, and others were marching from a nearby district court.

"I have not heard such a big explosion in my life. We felt as if our eardrums were about to burst," said Abdul Hameed, a lawyer’s assistant who was inside the court when the bomber struck.

Police cordoned off the area and appealed to bystanders to rush donate blood instead of crowding the scene and hindering emergency services. Ijaz Nisar, chief minister of Punjab, said that paramilitary Ranger troops had been deployed at strategic points in Lahore and the army was on standby.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but suspicion is likely to fall on militants linked to the Taleban and al-Qaeda.

Mr Musharraf condemned the attack and reiterated his resolve "to continue the fight against terrorism and extremism and not to be deterred by such acts", the state Associated Press of Pakistan news agency reported.

His Government has blamed two Taleban commanders linked to al-Qaeda for a wave of about 20 suicide attacks that have killed about 400 people in the past three months, many targeting security forces.

Today's attack came as Scotland Yard investigators visited forensic laboratories in Lahore, the capital of Punjab province, to examine evidence relating to the assassination of Benazir Bhutto two weeks ago in Rawalpindi, a garrison city to the north.

Ms Bhutto and about 20 others were killed in a gun and suicide bomb attack on December 27, after she had addressed an election rally. The murder of the former prime minister sparked days of rioting that left dozens more dead and forced a six-week postponement in the elections — meant to bring a new era of democracy after eight years of military rule under Musharraf.

The elections are for a lower house of parliament, from which a new prime minister and government will be drawn, and assemblies in Pakistan’s four provinces. Some analysts and politicians fear that Mr Musharraf will seize the opportunity to put off the election again, because the party that backs him faces losing in the vote, particularly since Ms Bhutto's murder.

Her Pakistan People's Party has accused elements of the ruling pro-Musharraf party of plotting to kill Ms Bhutto, which the Government vehemently denies.

Today’s attack comes ahead Islamic month of Muharram, which is often marred by bombings and fighting between Pakistan’s Sunni Muslims and its Shia minority. Authorities have already boosted security at holy sites across the country.

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