In the second major attack in the eastern city of Lahore in the Punjab heartland in a month, two suicide bombers struck a Sufi shrine on Thursday night, killing at least 41 people and wounding 175.
Security was beefed up at Sufi shrines across the country as the US-backed Pakistani government sought to project an image of stability in the face of mounting violence.
“We have always remained peaceful but our patience should not be tested any more,” said Raghib Naeemi, an anti-Taliban cleric whose outspoken father was killed in a suicide attack in Lahore last year. “The government should not just ban the names of the terrorist groups but should also curb their activities. The banned groups are freely operating in the country under new names.”
PHOTO: REUTERS
Taliban militants generally abhor the Sufi strand of Islam and disapprove of Muslims visiting shrines, which is popular with many Pakistanis.
Militants may have been trying to whip up emotions by attacking sacred religious sites in a bid to destabilize Pakistan.
Militants linked to al-Qaeda and the Taliban have unleashed a wave of attacks across Pakistan in revenge for the military offensives in their bastions in the northwest of the country near the Afghan border.
While most of the reprisal militant attacks have taken place in the northwest, militants have stepped up attacks in the heartland of the country, mainly the central province of Punjab, in recent months. Lahore is the capital of Punjab.
Hundreds of devotees were visiting the marble shrine of the 11th century Persian Sufi saint, Syed Ali Hajwairi, commonly known as Data Gunj Bakhsh, in the heart of the city when Thursday’s attacks occurred.
Scores of people also held a protest in Lahore yesterday morning against the attack. Wider demonstrations are expected at the shrine and other parts of the city after mid-day prayers.
Officials have blamed attacks in the province on the “Punjabi Taliban,” a term used for the militants drawn from Punjab who have joined ranks with Taliban in the northwest.
More than 80 people were killed in twin attacks on the mosques of the minority Ahmadi sect in May.
The KSE-100 was down a marginal 0.20 percent by midday amid very dull trade with volume just at 10.80 million shares.
Dealers said a new capital gains tax introduced in the market was keeping investors away from the market and that the bombing in Lahore did not have an impact, as most investors were already on the sidelines.
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
NO EXCUSES: Marcos said his administration was acting on voters’ demands, but an academic said the move was emotionally motivated after a poor midterm showing Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday sought the resignation of all his Cabinet secretaries, in a move seen as an attempt to reset the political agenda and assert his authority over the second half of his single six-year term. The order came after the president’s allies failed to win a majority of Senate seats contested in the 12 polls on Monday last week, leaving Marcos facing a divided political and legislative landscape that could thwart his attempts to have an ally succeed him in 2028. “He’s talking to the people, trying to salvage whatever political capital he has left. I think it’s
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
UNSCHEDULED VISIT: ‘It’s a very bulky new neighbor, but it will soon go away,’ said Johan Helberg of the 135m container ship that run aground near his house A man in Norway awoke early on Thursday to discover a huge container ship had run aground a stone’s throw from his fjord-side house — and he had slept through the commotion. For an as-yet unknown reason, the 135m NCL Salten sailed up onto shore just meters from Johan Helberg’s house in a fjord near Trondheim in central Norway. Helberg only discovered the unexpected visitor when a panicked neighbor who had rung his doorbell repeatedly to no avail gave up and called him on the phone. “The doorbell rang at a time of day when I don’t like to open,” Helberg told television
RSS