The dead included Judge Rafaqat Awan, who last year rejected a petition to prosecute former military ruler Pervez Musharraf over a deadly raid on Islamabad's Lal Masjid in 2007. The case against Musharraf later went ahead and it was not clear whether Awan was the intended target of Monday's attack. Eyewitnesses described the gunmen firing indiscriminately in the warren of narrow, dusty streets housing court chambers and lawyers' offices. Lawyer Murad Ali Shah described the dramatic moment the carnage began.
"At 9:00 am armed men surrounded the court compound. They entered the chamber and started firing," he told AFP, adding that he had helped recover several bodies.