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.
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