LAHORE – Two suicide bombers struck military vehicles back-to-back here in the sensitive locality of RA Bazaar in Cantonment area on Friday, killing at least 48 people including eight army officials and injuring more than 134 others. Hours later, terrorists carried out a string of blasts in Allama Iqbal Town, Samanabad and Shadman causing few injuries but alarming residents.
Forty-eight people were killed and 134 wounded in the RA Bazaar attacks, hospitals and police sources said. However, IG Police Punjab Tariq Salim told reporters after visiting the blast scene that 39 people were killed and 95 others wounded in the attacks.
Eyewitnesses said the bombers, aged between 17 to 20 years, riding motorcycles exploded their suicide jackets near the vehicles of Garrison Security Force (GSF) while the IG Police Punjab stated that both the bombers were on foot.
Umar Zahid, who sustained injuries to his legs, said the suicide bombers were heading towards Ghousia Masjid, believed to be their target, where the main Friday prayers were to start.
“As one of the bombers saw the vehicles of security forces patrolling the road, he got panicked and blew himself up. As the security force officials rushed to the scene to shift the injured to hospitals, the second blast occurred,” he said.
Soon after the blasts several vehicles caught fire and windowpanes of nearby shops and residences in the locality were shattered. “After a short lull, terrorist attacks have gained momentum across the country amid stalled relations between the nuclear-armed neighbours as New Delhi is under immense pressure from the world forces to scale down its operations in Afghanistan, from where the attacks are directed to destabilise Pakistan,” observers said.
This is for the first time that the military patrol has been targeted in the Punjab capital. Perhaps, it was a soft target to attack the vehicles on the road and at a crowded public place, a security analyst said.
Both the blasts took place within a span of 15 to 20 seconds and at a distance of some 20 yards from each other. The first explosion occurred at about 12:48 pm, rescue workers said.
Passersby said the blasts were caused by suicide bombers who rammed their motorcycles into two vehicles of the army’s GSF.
“There were two suicide bombers who targeted two military vehicles within the space of 15 seconds,” Operations Police Chief Mohammad Shafiq said, adding that the heads of both the attackers had been recovered from the scene. The first explosion took place near the bus stand in RA Bazaar, which is home to several army and security agencies’ facilities. The second blast happened near the Saddar roundabout, few yards away from the first blast site.
After the first blast, local shopkeepers and passersby rushed towards the scene to shift the injured to the nearby hospital when they heard another huge explosion.
Waheed Ahmed, a college student, said he was on his way home when he heard the first blast. “I ran towards the opposite side and then another blast of severe intensity occurred a few meters away in front of me. I fell down and fainted,” he said while in a hospital emergency ward.
Fire flames and columns of smoke were visible from a distance of two kilometres from the scene.
Eyewitnesses said the army officials first tried to capture the bombers then opened fire on them but the attackers exploded their vests within seconds.
Police sources said the bombers also lobbed hand grenades at vehicles before blowing themselves up.
A TV footage released soon after the incident showed that seconds after the first blast people were reciting: “Ya Allah, Ya Allah; Ya Allah; Oh my God; Bomb blast; Oh my God! Oh my God!” And then the second blast took place after fifteen seconds.
“There was hue and cry everywhere. I saw charred bodies, body parts, blood and the flesh scattered on the road as I ran out of the mobile phone shop after hearing huge blasts,” Afzal, an eyewitness, told this reporter at the crime scene.
Another eyewitness Nadeem, whose clothes were soaked in blood, said he had been repairing a car at a nearby automobile shop when he heard the huge blast and ran out of his shop to know what had happened, adding that suddenly there took place another blast near an army vehicle.
“I ran away. I thought if everybody has come under attack,” he said.
Sixty-year-old Zahid Ahmed, another eyewitness, said he saw a woman and her baby dead inside an auto-rickshaw. “I noticed that the baby was lying on the chest of her mother. It was a terrible scene,” he added.
Security officials cordoned off the area and started collecting evidence from there. “We have collected evidence at the scene, which will help identify the attackers. The evidence is solid and this would help in the investigations. Both the attackers were on foot,” the IG Police Punjab said.
Bomb Disposal Squad officials maintained 10 to 12kg explosive material was used in the attack. Suicide jackets were packed with nuts, bolts and ball bearings, they added.
A military helicopter was also seen flying over the blast scene to locate the movement of suspicious elements. The security forces also launched search operation in the area.
A great number of army officials reached the spot within no time and cordoned off the entire area. Heavy police contingents, ambulances and rescue workers also rushed to the blast site to help those injured in the attacks. Rescue operation was launched and the wounded people were shifted to nearby hospitals, especially the Combined Military Hospital, General Hospital. A state of emergency was declared at all the City hospitals immediately after the cowardly act of terrorism.
The military police also sealed off the entire Cantonment area, blocking all entry points and diverting traffic. Media was not allowed to go near the scene.
The area was crowded with people when the blasts occurred shortly before the start of Juma prayers at the nearby Ghousia Masjid.
When contacted, a retired senior police officer said the City was in a state of war, and the citizens were horrified after the blast, the second suicide attack in less than a week. The attacks had taken place despite the fact that the law-enforcing agencies were put on red alert all over the City, he wondered.
Friday’s explosions took place only a few days after a suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into the main gate of the Special Investigation Agency (SIA) building at Model Town on Monday last, killing at least 15 people, including seven policemen, and injuring 100 others. The explosion flattened the building, besides causing severe damage to several other buildings in this posh residential locality.
Following the attacks, security was further beefed up in the City and the police intensified snap checking of vehicles, besides boosting armed patrolling to forestall any further untoward incident.
Meanwhile, an ISPR statement said eight soldiers embraced Shahadat and 12 others were injured in the twin suicide blasts at RA Bazaar on Friday.
A suicide bomber exploded himself in front of a mosque at RA Bazaar when army personnel were patrolling the area to perform protection duties, said the statement.
A Quick Response Team of GSF reached the site within two minutes of the blast and was busy in rescue work when a second suicide bomber blew himself up.
Evacuation teams of Pakistan Army and Rescue 1122 responded immediately and shifted the injured to Combined Military Hospital (CMH) and General Hospital within 20 minutes of occurrence of the incident.
A total of 27 dead bodies of civilians were brought to CMH while 32 are under treatment, the statement said.
Later in the night, terror and fear gripped the entire provincial metropolis as a spate of low-intensity bomb blasts in a close succession rocked Allama Iqbal Town, Samanabad and Shadman areas of the Lahore City.
Sources said that the police also arrested two suspects from the scene and shifted them to some unknown place for interrogation.
Two people including a police constable sustained minor injuries in the blasts while a car was badly damaged and the blasts shattered the windowpanes of dozens of residences in the area.
Police sources said that six bomb blasts of rather low intensity took place in a short span of over one hour in various parts of Allama Iqbal Town, whereas one blast took place in Samanabad and another in Shadman.
City district government and police officials made announcement through loudspeakers in Iqbal Town after the blasts, urging the residents to stay inside.
According to the sources, the first bomb exploded at a plot in Kashmir Block of Allama Iqbal Town near Moon Market. However, no casualty was reported in this incident. SP Iqbal Town told reporters “It was a firecracker explosion not bomb blast.”
The shopkeepers closed down the business at Moon Market and asked the shoppers to vacate the area. The blast spread a wave of terror in Moon Market, where in December last, two bomb blasts had killed more than 48 people including women and children.
The second blast occurred inside a car outside the residence of an officer of a sensitive agency in the same locality. The car was badly damaged in the blast.
The third bomb blast took place near Edhi Ambulance Centre in Iqbal Town. However, no damage or casualty was reported in this blast.
The fourth blast occurred few yards away from a hospital in Huma Block. Eyewitnesses said that the blast shattered the windowpanes of several residences in the area. Similarly, the fifth blast occurred near a market in Karim Block, creating panic and terror in the entire commercial locality.
The sixth blast took place outside the residence of a retired official of a sensitise agency near Bismillah Chowk, Allama Iqbal Town.
Sources said another bomb blast took place outside the residence of DSP Chaudhry Riaz in N Block of Samanabad after midnight. The blast damaged a vehicle and shattered the windowpanes of several residences.
It was a huge blast, Shahzad Ahmad, shopkeeper of Samanabad Market, said, who heard the sound from a distance of one kilometre from the blast site.
Heavy police contingents reached the spot and collected evidence till filing of this report.
There were also reports of another blast in Shadman area of the City.
The police sealed the entire area, launched a massive search operation and intensified armed patrolling to keep a vigilant eye on the activities of miscreants. The police also set up special pickets across the City and started snap checking of the vehicles to avoid any further untoward incident. The law enforcing agencies were on their toes all over the City till filing of this report.