Source: Reuters
* Car-bomber tries to enter police headquarters
* At least 22 dead, nearly 300 hurt
* Gunmen fired at police before the blast
By Mubasher Bukhari
LAHORE, Pakistan, May 27 (Reuters) - Gunmen attacked a police headquarters in the Pakistani city of Lahore on Wednesday, setting off a car-bomb that killed at least 22 people in what the government said was revenge for an offensive against the Taliban.
There was no claim of responsibility for the attack which wounded nearly 300 people and caused extensive damage. It came after warnings of strikes in response to the army's attack on militants in the Swat region in the northwest. [ID:nISL484735]
The blast also hit after General David Petraeus, head of the U.S. Central Command, was in Islamabad for meetings on Tuesday with government and military leaders.
The United States needs Pakistani action against militants to help defeat al Qaeda and disrupt support for the Taliban in Afghanistan. It has welcomed the Swat offensive.
"I believe that anti-Pakistan elements, who want to destabilise our country and see defeat in Swat, have now turned to our cities," Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik told reporters.
The Swat offensive and insecurity in general have worried stock market investors but the main index <.KSE> was up 0.05 percent at 7,182.82 at 0900 GMT.
The bomb, which officials said was a suicide attack, brought down a government ambulance service building and damaged a nearby office of the military's main intelligence agency.
Top city official Khusro Pervez Khan said 22 people had been killed and 285 wounded. Rescuers were searching through the rubble and the toll could rise, another city official said.
Just before the blast two men got out of a car and opened fire at police guards at the gate, provincial Law Minister Rana Sanaullah told reporters, adding several suspects were later detained.
Witnesses said about four gunmen got out of a car and started firing.
"Four to five men got of the vehicle and fired at a police guard who tried to stop them," lawyer Subtain Akhtar Bokhari told Reuters.
One man told Express TV he had seen four young men dressed in black firing indiscriminately before the blast.
WARNING
Militant violence has surged in Pakistan since mid-2007, with numerous attacks on the security forces, as well as government and Western targets.
Officials had warned militants might launch bomb attacks in retaliation for the offensive in Swat, where the military says about 15,000 members of the security forces face 4,000-5,000 militants.
The Wednesday blast was the fifth since fighting in the Swat region intensified in late April.
Lahore is capital of Punjab province, Pakistan's most populous and prosperous. The country's second biggest city is also traditionally home to top bureaucrats and senior military brass.
The city has seen several bomb attacks over the past couple of years but its citizens felt much safer than other parts of the country until March, when militants launched two brazen assaults.
Attackers firing rifles and throwing grenades stormed a police training academy on the city's outskirts on March 30, killing eight recruits, wounding scores and holding off security forces for hours.
That attack, claimed by Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, came less than a month after a dozen gunmen attacked Sri Lanka's cricket team in the city, killing six police guards and a bus driver.
Share market dealers said despite the various security problems stocks got a boost after the Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that popular former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his politician brother could contest elections, removing a cause of political uncertainty. [ID:nISL464268]
The government has been struggling to revive a flagging economy being kept afloat by a $7.6 billion International Monetary Fund loan agreed in November.
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Today 27.05.09 a huge explosion shook the Punjabi Capital of Lahore. Scores of police and intelligence service (ISI) officers were killed or wounded. It is the latest of expected attacks in large Pakistani cities in retaliation for Zardari government fighting and killing its own people as ordered by the Americans. The victims and the attackers were devout Muslims believe in the same God, read the same Qura’an and pray facing Mecca five times a-day. So would it be fair for Muslims to target one another?
In Iraq, long before Bush war on terror, this issue was discussed during the British control of Iraq (1918-1958). The conclusion was that it is not only the imperialist who are the ‘tenants’ but also the Iraqi ‘landlords’ must share the blame.
Naturally, foreign powers want local agents to implement their designs of dividing countries, denying recognition or imposing sanctions on ‘undesirable’ regimes. Right now, the USraeli agents are working hard on fragmenting Iraq, dividing Sudan, sabotaging Palestinian rights and isolating Iran. And without the support of US agents in Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, UAE and Egypt, the Americans would have never contemplated invading, let alone, destroying Iraq and killing its people.
Throughout history, no nation had mercy on traitors regardless of position, ethnic background or religion. It is the same principle used today by the Iraqi, Afghani and Pakistani resistance movements. It is wise and advisable for those promoting the interests of foreign powers to stop betraying their own nations as they will be harshly punished. Earning money is never an excuse for betraying one’s country.
In promising to pay $5 billion to Zardari governemnt in order to fight the religious people, the US did calculate that the Taliban will attack big cities. Most of the army officers are Punjabi while most of the Taliban are Pashtun from North West Areas. The American plan is a recipe for disaster for Zardari and for Pakistan. Right now, the Americans are preparing another military dictator to take over.
The neocons Christo-zionists were very open about the constructive chaos. After succeeding in it, they rae looking for ways to finance it. Paul Wolfowitz wrote about financing the occupation of Iraq from Iraq oil revenues. The Americans have already recruited, trained and armed 75000 awakening council members to man checkpoints then ordered the Iraqi government to pay their salaries. Jewish Sarkozy is rushing to open a military base in UAE in order to assist the Americans in putting pressure on Iran. The European Union is being asked to pay for Afghanistan 'development' while NATO forces are supporting US occupation of the country. It is a complete and open crusade against Islam assisted by local Muslim agents.
Like the Iraqis, the Pakistanis will fight back from street to street and
from house to house until Pakistan is free from Americans and from their
local agents. The darker the American night is, the more the dawn of freedom
is appreciated.
Adnan Darwash, Iraq Occupation Times
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LAHORE: The suicide car bomb blast at Rescue-15 building adjacent to CCPO Office killed 23 people and injured over 200 others here in Civil Line area on Wednesday.
The injured have been shifted to different hospitals of the city where medical aid is being provided to them.
President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has strongly condemned the blast.
According to sources, gunshots were being heard near the blast site for minutes before a speeding red van laden with explosives broke the barriers outside the Rescue-15 building and blew up with a loud blast, bringing down the entire building.
The suicide bomber intended to target the office of the CCPO, sources added.
Explosives weighing 100 kilograms were used in the explosion which was followed by gunshots in the area with intervals while four suspects were arrested from the blast site.
Windowpanes of the nearby buildings and houses were shattered and 15 vehicles were destroyed as thick smoke clouded the blast site.
Rescue activities were kick-started after the blast and the injured were whisked away by ambulances to Meo, Gangaram and Services hospitals.
Machines are being used to recover people trapped under the debris. Six of the ten bodies brought to Meo Hospital were of policemen while two bodies are beyond recognition
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Survivors tell of Lahore blast devastation
Updated at: 1730 PST, Wednesday, May 27, 2009
LAHORE: "All of a sudden there was firing and a huge blast. The wall collapsed on me. I was trapped in the wreckage and fell unconscious," said an elderly man, plucked from the rubble of a Lahore bomb.
One of those lucky enough to be rescued from the remains of a police building in the security heartland of Lahore -- lying in hospital he remembered the van racing towards the offices, then gunshots, then the explosion.
Rescue workers and passers-by -- their clothing stained with blood -- clawed with bare hands at rubble and twisted metal desperately trying to free dozens of people buried alive when a suicide car bomb flattened the building.
They carried the wounded on their backs and on stretchers, stumbling over piles of bricks, twisted iron bars and severed human limbs as they rushed them to hospitals, which officials said were treating around 300 wounded.
Police and administrators said about 23 people were killed in the blast, the third deadly attack to hit Lahore in as many months.
The building, where police were on duty responding to distress calls, was devastated and the impact of the attack, which witnesses likened to being in an earthquake, shattered windows and toppled concrete blast barriers.
Police official Mohammad Yaseen said he was driving a motorbike when he was flung to the ground with shrapnel injuries.
"A huge bang rocked the entire area... I was hit by flying objects like glass shrapnel. I fell to the ground. I recovered and saw thick black smoke billowing. There were lots of shouts and cries," he said.
One man in a traditional white shirt was buried up to his waist in debris, as volunteers desperately threw aside bricks and rubble in a bid to free him, television footage showed.
Policemen staggered from the devastated building in the heart of the liberal cultural capital, worried for scores of their colleagues still trapped.
"I heard firing and then a huge blast," said one, saying there were 30 to 35 policemen trapped inside. "The building collapsed. I was at the back of the building and am fortunately alive."
Up to five attackers, including two in a van packed with explosives, opened fire at security guards and threw hand grenades, before the vehicle detonated into a ball of fire on the road in the security nerve centre of Lahore.
Ambulances rushed to the scene and a large crane shifted mounds of debris.
Another police officer, too panicked to give his name, said he rushed out of the building when he heard 20 shots ring out.
"We came out to see it, then they hurled a grenade and all of a sudden a vehicle exploded," he told reporters.
"Windows of the nearby buildings and houses were shattered -- over a dozen vehicles were destroyed... It was a huge blast which created a 15-foot (4.5-metre) deep and 17-foot wide crater."
The bomb hit one of the busiest junctions of Lahore, less than 500 metres (yards) from Mall Road, an upmarket shopping and dining boulevard, and its impact was felt up to two kilometres (more than a mile) away.
"I heard a loud bang. The window panes moved as if in an earthquake," said Mohammad Faisal, a shopkeeper who suffered minor shrapnel cuts.
"I was on the third floor and ran down the stairs. The building seemed to shake for several seconds."
As armed police secured the area, flattened cars and rows of charred motorcycles lay on their sides and power cables littered the roads.
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27 killed, nearly 326 injured; ISI agents, 11 policemen among the dead : ISI, police attacked
* Gunmen exchange fire with security personnel before vehicle loaded with 100 kgs of explosives hit Rescue 15 building
* Rs 3m compensation for heirs of each police official killed
By Rana Tanveer
LAHORE: Suicide bombers detonated a vehicle loaded with 100 kilogrammes of explosives near offices of the capital city police officer (CCPO) and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in Lahore on Wednesday – killing at least 27 people and wounding 326, in addition to destroying a two-storey building of the Rescue 15 police service, according to police.
Attack: Witnesses said the attack started midmorning when two gunmen stepped out of a white van – which had pulled up in a narrow street separating the police and ISI buildings – cautioned civilians to take cover, themselves took cover behind concrete barriers protecting the buildings and started firing at security personnel deployed down the street. The driver remained in the van as his accomplices exchanged fire with the security personnel, to clear the path for the vehicle to move towards the ISI and CCPO offices – located about a hundred feet down the street opposite each other. The gunmen also hurled a grenade at the security personnel. As the firing continued, the driver managed to cross the concrete barrier, but could not get further and was forced to blow up the vehicle there.
SP Sohail Sukhera said two policemen were injured in the gunbattle. He said a threefold security cordon prevented the attackers from getting to the offices CCPO and ISI offices. He said the terrorist in the vehicle was shot – which prompted him to blow up the vehicle about a hundred feet away from the intended target, in front of the Rescue 15 building.
Officials said at least three suspects had been detained.
Civil Defence District Officer Mazhar Abbas told Daily Times a suicide jacket and two Russian-made hand grenades had been found from the blast site. Sukhera said 27 people – including 11 policemen – died in the attack. The AP news agency reported that “several intelligence agents” were among the dead. The APP news agency said 50 of the injured people were in critical condition, but Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah said 20 were in critical condition.
Sukhera said nobody had claimed responsibility for the attack. The blast left a crater eight feet deep and several yards in diameter. There was no trace of the vehicle used in the blast – which destroyed an area nearly the size of a city block, with cars on the street left mangled and bricks strewn dozens of yards in all directions.
A nearby filling station was totally destroyed and several car showrooms damaged. The ceilings of several operating rooms in a nearby hospital caved in, and windows of buildings in a two-kilometre radius were shattered.
Most of the outer wall of the ISI office was destroyed and the building partially damaged, while the CCPO’s office was also damaged and SSP (Discipline) Farooq Mazhar injured. DCO Sajjad Bhutta said the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber. Rangers, Rescue 1122, police, Civil Defence and the Edhi Foundation immediately started rescue operations.
Sources in the Police Department told Daily Times that there were 35 police officials in the CCPO’s office at the time of the blast, and only three of them were unhurt – “all others were either injured or they died”.
The president and the prime minister condemned the attack in separate statements, and said their government remained committed to rooting out terrorism.
Compensation: According to APP, the Punjab chief minister has said that Rs 3 million would be given as compensation to families of policemen killed in the attack, and the government would also pay for their children’s education. Financial assistance would also be provided to the civilians killed or injured.
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Chaos reigns as injured rushed to hospitals: Bloody Wednesday
* Injured admitted in Mayo Hospital: 110, Ganga Ram Hospital: 125, Services Hospital: 50 at WAPDA House, CM’s Secretariat, Lahore Zoo among buildings damaged
Staff Report
LAHORE: Chaotic scenes were witnessed on Wednesday as the injured were rushed to hospitals across the city.
Hamid, a citizen, told Daily Times that he was going to the Mayo Hospital for physiotherapy. “When I drove into the compound, I saw people rushing in with their injured relations and friends.” Naurez said he got out of the car, but a man who was standing nearby, stopped him, telling him to leave as there was a chance that the hospital’s roof might collapse.
Admitted: Hospitals were choked with patients, and often two people were seen on one bed. About 110 injured were taken to the Mayo Hospital, while 125 were admitted to the Ganga Ram Hospital and 50 were taken to the Services Hospital.
Separately, The Mall was blocked to all traffic on Wednesday after the blast at the Rescue 15 building, with shops and plazas on and around the road shutting down.
Hall Road also remained closed and shops on Bedan Road and Regal Chowk were shuttered. The glass doors of many shops that were not open at the time of the blast shattered behind the shutters. Shopkeepers after closing their shops gathered near the site of the blast and the police officials had to repeatedly ask them to disperse.
Though The Mall was barricaded at several points, the traffic did not choke for long as the road was deserted after the blast. The voice of the blast was heard at the Civil Secretariat and the Government College University and even as far as The Lahore College for Women University.
The Institute of Art and Design and National College of Arts, on The Mall, tightened their security and closed the gates.
Several significant buildings were damaged and destroyed by the bomb blast at the Rescue 15 office, as the shocks travelled in a radius of several kilometres.
The blast destroyed several buildings situated within a 200-metre radius from the Rescue 15 office. Most buildings have been declared ineligible for renovation, but must be demolished and then reconstructed.
Buildings: Several buildings – WAPDA House, Pakistan International Airlines office, Chief Minister’s Secretariat, Lahore Zoo, Plaza Cinema, offices of two newspapers, Punjab Assembly, Alfalah Building, Shahdin Building, Ganga Ram Hospital, St Anthony’s High School, banks, CNG and petrol stations and the Red Cross office – were partially damaged by the blast.
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