Lahore-Karachi : 17 killed in Urdu Bazaar suicide blast

Dunya TV has received CCTV footage of both Lahore and Karachi terror blasts in which around 15 people lost their lives while scores others injured.
As per the CCTV footage, Karachi explosion took place at 6:55pm. The blast was so powerful that its bang was heard far and wide and the windowpanes of nearby buildings got damaged. Meanwhile, a blue battery has been impounded from the Urdu Bazaar Lahore blast site besides a mobile phone. Different investigative agencies are also probing the incident with the help of this CCTV footage.


====


Atleast 13 persons have been killed and 52 injured as a suicide bomber blew himself up at Urdu Bazaar Lahore on Tuesday evening at a time when a large number of people were gathered at Karbala Gamay

Suicide attacks near Pakistan Shi'ite rally kills 13
25 Jan 2011

Source: reuters // Reuters


* Teenage bomber carried out attack

* Taliban-linked group takes responsibility


By Mubasher Bokhari

LAHORE, Pakistan, Jan 25 (Reuters) - A teenage suicide bomber blew himself up near a religious procession of Shi'ite Muslims in the Pakistani city of Lahore on Tuesday, killing at least 13 people and wounding more than 50, officials said.

Islamist militants linked to al Qaeda and Taliban have attacked such religious gatherings in the past as part of their bloody campaign to create chaos and topple the U.S.-backed Pakistani government.

"A 13-year-old boy detonated explosives as policemen tried to check him at a cordon near the procession," Lahore police chief Aslam Tarin told Reuters.

Hospital officials said 13 people, including three policemen and a women, were killed and around 52 people were wounded.
Shi'ites stage large rallies on the streets to mark Chehlum or Arba'in, the end of their 40-day religious mourning period for Imam Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Mohammad, who was killed during a battle in A.D. 680 in Karbala, a city in modern-day Iraq.

Islamist militants linked to al Qaeda and Taliban deem Shi'ites as heretics.


Militants have unleashed a wave of suicide and bomb attacks across Pakistan. The attacks on religious minorities are part of their wider campaign to destabilise Pakistan.

A group affiliated with the Pakistan Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.

"We will continue such attacks in future," Shakirullah Shakir, a spokesman for Fidayeen-e-Islam militant group told Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location. (Additional reporting by Saud Mehsud; Writing by Zeeshan Haider; Editing by Chris Allbritton)

(For more Reuters coverage of Afghanistan and Pakistan, see: http://www.reuters.com/places/pakistan.


(If you have a query or comment about this story, send an e-mail to news.feedback.asia@thomsonreuters.com)

===

Chehlum attacks: Karachi, Lahore hit again By Faraz Khan / Rana Tanveer
Published: January 26, 2011
Security officials gather around the wreckage of a vehicle at the site following a suicide bomb blast in Lahore on January 25, 2011. PHOTO: AFP
.KARACHI / LAHORE: Terrorists targeted mourning processions marking the Chehlum of the martyrs of Karbala in Lahore and Karachi within two hours on Tuesday, killing at least 17 people and wounding scores more, officials said.

In Lahore, a teenage suicide bomber attacked the first cordon of police which was set up to monitor the queue towards Karbala Gamay Shah where the Chehlum procession was to culminate.

Thirteen people, among them three policemen, were killed and at least 80 wounded ­ over 15 of them critically.

Two police vehicles and a car were also damaged in the attack. An emergency was declared in government hospitals throughout the city.

Constable Nadeem Akhtar, driver of DSP Imran Karamat’s damaged vehicle, told The Express Tribune that the attacker was aged 14 to 15 years and was carrying a briefcase.

He was stopped by security personnel for jumping the queue when he blew himself up, Akhtar said. The DSP, he said, was safe as he had left the spot a few minutes earlier.

Lahore Deputy Inspector General (Operations) Rao Sardar Ali said that the severed head and torso of the suicide bomber were recovered from the site and sent to the Mayo Hospital for identification. Ali said the attacker was carrying a bag laden with explosives.

According to Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) official Allahyar, high-intensity explosives, weighing at least four kilograms, were used in the attack.

Lahore police chief Aslam Tareen said policemen had warded off greater losses by stopping the attacker at the outer check-post.

Following the blast, security was tightened around the procession and at the Data Darbar shrine where thousands of devotees were participating in the annual Urs celebrations.

Senior adviser to the Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Zulfiqar Khan Khosa condemned the blast and visited the Mayo Hospital to meet the injured. Chairperson of the Sunni Ittehad Council Sahibzada Fazal Karim announced a countrywide protest on January 28.

Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, in his condolence message, said the entire nation is proud of the police officials who laid down their lives in the line of duty.

Hours after, an alleged suicide bomber rammed his motorcycle into a police van, killing four and injuring 15 others.

According to officials, the attacker was targeting buses carrying the mourners but the buses had already passed by the route.

As the city panicked, security was put on high alert and an emergency was declared in

all hospitals. Massive traffic jams were reported in various parts of the city, including on Shahrah-e-Faisal.

Investigators recovered a severed head from the crime scene which they believed was of the alleged suicide bomber.
However, as families of the deceased arrived at the scene, they identified the head as that of police constable Kamran. SI Raja Nawaz also confirmed that the head is the police constable’s.
The motorcycle used in the attack was completely damaged.

A contingent of rangers, police and the BDS also reached the site but a report is yet to be submitted. Neither the police nor the BDS were willing to disclose anything about the intensity, weight and type of explosives used. “I am not in a position to state anything,” BDS Sub-Inspector Nasab, who inspected the site, told The Express Tribune. “We are trying to ascertain the intensity, weight and type of explosive. We are also searching the area for body parts of the bomber.” On the other hand, East Zone Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Commandant Shaukat Ali Shah said that nothing could be said until investigations were complete but said the attack was a suicide bombing.

Shah, however, insists that the head found belongs to the suicide bomber. “The bomber was carrying an explosive-laden bag. He wanted to hit the buses carrying mourners returning from the procession to Malir, Jafar Tayyar Society and Khaimae-Abbas. Fortunately, police intercepted him upon which he rammed his motorcycle into the police mobile,“ Shah said.

The deceased policemen have been identified as ASI Mushtaq, Head Constable Kamran and constable Imran, while the passerby was named Kashif. The policemen were called from the Razzakabad Training Centre for security duty.

Crime Investigation Depart ment (CID) SP Investigations Mazhar Mashwani said that pallets were used in explosives.

However, a senior officer said on condition of anonymity: “We had serious threats during Chehlum and therefore we deployed a heavier security contingent in every part of the city,” he said. “I think Lashkar-e-Jhangvi might be behind the incident but nothing can be said with certainty.” Meanwhile, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah has announced Rs2 million each for deceased policemen while Rs0.2 million for injured policemen.

Sindh Inspector General of Police (IGP) Sultan Sallahuddin Babar Khattak also visited the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center and announced promotions for the dead policemen. He also announced Rs0.1 million other than compensation for families.

JPMC Emergency Incharge Dr Seemin Jamali confirmed the death toll and said the victims sustained pellets on their bodies and some of them had head injuries and fractures.

One mourner Ali Mehdi who was on one of the buses of mourners told The Express Tribune that the suicide bomber wanted to hit their bus with his motorcycle but he hit the motorcycle with the police van when he was intercepted.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 26th, 2011.
.