43 killed in Lahore suicide bombings17: 10 12/03/2010, Matthew Weaver, global terrorism, guardian.co.uk, news, Pakistan, world news, Guardian Unlimite

43 killed in Lahore suicide bombings17: 10 12/03/2010, Matthew Weaver, global terrorism, guardian.co.uk, news, Pakistan, world news, Guardian Unlimited

At least 43 dead and 95 wounded in suicide attacks, which seemed to target Pakistani military

Two blasts rocked Lahore, reaching a high security military district killing at least 43 people.

Unconfirmed reports the death toll to 50, while over 95 injured people.

The attacks, close to each other, struck a crowded market within the cantonment of Lahore, the headquarters of the local military garrison. Suicide bombers target seemed passing army vehicles, with six soldiers reportedly among the dead.

The attackers blew themselves up at 1pm, at the time of Friday prayers.

"There were about 10 to 15 seconds between the explosions. Both were suicide attacks," said a senior local government official, Sajjad Bhutta, told the site.

"The maximum dimensions of prevention have been adopted, but these people find support from somewhere."

Shops in the market were destroyed. Children crossing the road and people waiting at a bus stop are among the victims. Witnesses said the bodies, some with missing members were scattered throughout the area.

"[The terrorists] were on foot. We have found both their heads," said Tariq Saleem Dogar, the senior police official in the province of Punjab. Bombers with suicide vests usually have their heads blown by the force of the explosion.

It was the second attack this week in Lahore, the vibrant cultural heart of Pakistan, which had enjoyed a period of relative peace in recent months.

Lahore is the capital of eastern Punjab province, the heartland of Pakistan, and the most densely populated country.

It was hoped that the ongoing Pakistani military operations against Taliban militants in northwestern Pakistan, near Afghanistan, in the Swat valley and in the tribal area, could affect the ability of militants to conduct terrorist attacks.

The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for car bomb attack on Monday in a building of police interrogations in Lahore that killed 14 people.

Moreover, the office of a Christian aid agency U.S. was hit by a gun and grenade attack this week, killing six of its officials, all Pakistani nationals, in northwestern Pakistan.

"They're trying to do everything possible for Pakistan, a failed state. We saw what they tried in Swat, now that they have reached the mainstream," said Interior Minister Rehman Malik said in Islamabad. "Terrorists want to destabilize Punjab. I warn you can not fight with the state."

Lahore last year was dragged to the insurgency in Pakistan, which claimed some 3,000 lives in 2009, an assault with a weapon in the visiting team cricket in Sri Lanka, among other attacks in the city.

Pakistan
Global terrorism
Matthew Weaver


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