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Three blasts occurred at Data Darbar.
At least thirty five people were killed and 175 injured as three blasts hit Data Darbar in Lahore, Thursday night.
One explosion took place in the courtyard of the shrine, one at gate number five and the third in the basement. Police has cordoned off the area and traffic is being diverted away from the shrine. According to sources, the shrine had previously received threats and security had been stepped up.
The injured have been shifted to Mayo Hospital where emergency has been declared, according to DG Rescue Ahmed Raza. Emergency has also been declared at hospitals in the area.
All three blasts are said to be suicide blasts according to DCO Lahore Sajjad Bhutta.
Commissioner Lahore Khusro Pervez appealed to people not to rush to hospitals and that the doctors are doing their job. He also said that the body parts of two suicide bombers have been found, including two heads. He said the suicide bombers were very young and that each suicide jacket can carry up to 10-15KG of explosives.
Media personnel were also attacked by enraged people present at the site.
Police resorted to aerial firing to disperse people gathered at the shrine to clear the area. Scuffles took place between protesters and police, as people demanded that investigations be made on loopholes in the security arrangements.
Administrators of the shrine said that strict security arrangement had been made, and that all people entering the shrine were being thoroughly checked.
Thursday is the busiest day at the darbar as large number of devotees come to pay their respect and attain blessings. A large number of women and children were present at the time of the blasts as well.
Data Darbar is the tomb of Syed Abul Hassan Bin Usman Bin Ali Al-Hajweri, where hundreds of thousands of people, come each year to pay their respects and to offer prayers. The large complex also includes Hajveri Mosque.
Lahore has been hit by numerous low intensity blasts during the last month, including attacks on CD shops in Zaitoon Plaza.
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Too little money for oxygen plants
Our strategic assets struck again.Recommend
Tragic and bone chillingRecommend
Allah Raham karay AmeeenRecommend
What do the Taliban-lovers have to say now ? Was these attacks on Sufis in Lahore a recation to US drone attacks ? Even since Nawaz League came to power Punjab has become a haven for terrorists, who are plying their deadly trade.Recommend
End of humanity as we knew it. Data Darbar is where Muslims of all sects came together to pay homage to this great Sufi Saint. This is an attack on all Muslims. Would the Punjab Govt. wakeup now or they still want to favor the jihadis. First the Ahmedis, then Shias and Sufis. Who is next…….. Watch out, they are coming after you!Recommend
Very sad.
still PML N law minister Punjab wants the support of extremists to strengthen Nawaz league’s position.Recommend
The place of peace was turned into a bloodshed..I don’t even know what to say.
How can anyone be such !@#$%..
*Speechless !!!*Recommend
Very sad and very bad. Such event can’t be done by any muslim elements by any means.Recommend
Horrible..whats happening to our country? — wake up people..confront these retarded people who are killing pakistani children, women and men. Now is the Time for a major “across the board” revolution..if we don’t act now then we will loose our country to chaos, extremists and filthy politicians. Soul of our Country is being burned!Recommend
CokeStudio should be worried. Including all the artists. Taliban are anti Sufi-ism.Recommend
Agencies received the such like information but all efforts failed to curb this evil. Too much enough and Govt. should play a vital role to contain terrorism.Recommend
Surely the US drone attacks are to be blamed for this. NOT. As long as NLeague doesn’t take action against these, these attacks will continue.Recommend
Even after thousands of our countrypeople have been killed by these barbarians,our religous & political leaders are coming on the tv right now & saying “it can’t be the work of muslims,this incident has nothing to do with religion”!!! It is this sort of deliberate,conscious denial that has allowed such atrocities to occur for so long.Everyone knows who did this,the police have confirmed it was a suicide attack,all the darbars had been receiving threats from these religous fanatics.Why do our ppl choose to remain asleep with their eyes open.Why don’t we confront the reality & call a spade a spade.Why are our socalled leaders so scared to speak the truth,why are they all so afraid of the mullahs??Recommend
Dear Editor,
This spate of violence should be a wakeup call for all of us Pakistanis, especially for the government. There is a need for a radical shift from being an ‘Islamic’ republic to a democratic republic. There is a need for a constitutioal change – a reversion to the vision of the Quaid who did not envision an Islamic republic. Being a democratic republic does not mean being an atheistic communist state. It only means that the state has got nothing to do with religion. It is the state’s role to be above religious affiliation. On then will the state come out in unambigous way and in full force without hesitation against bigotry and violence that we are seeing now.
Regards
A. Khan
LisbonRecommend
What do these people want from us ? Murderers have no regard for human life.Recommend
Its not the work of individuals, but the work of the ideology. We have allowed people with extremist mindsets to preach wrongly that revering these sacred places is an innovation or biddat and against Islam. It is with this particular ideology that those suicide bombers (or whoever put the bomb there) were made to believe they were doing a good job / a favour to religion by teaching such innovators a lesson and by frightening the other people from coming to these places.
These people don’t have logic or a sound sense, they fear debates and they chose the method of preaching a one-sided story, stopping people to listen to the other side, and to try and frighten people into submission.
We can’t stop the bombings, unless we bring an ideological change, a change in people’s mindsets and thinkings and religious perceptions. You can’t fight these people with conventional weapons, police (already corrupt), democracy (which has politicians suportive of the extremists), or even a good army and intelligence. The only way we can stop it is to reverse the brainwash effects. But we are doing nothing on that front.Recommend
Its the failure of PPP government.Recommend
Failure of the PPP government?Recommend
Haroon, you cannot change ideology until there is an effort at the state level first to dissociate from one or the other ideological structure. It is the state’s responsibility to protect everyone’s right to practice their own ideology. But the state unfortuntately in Pakistan is itself ambivalent and/or confused at best.. now I am not sure how is it possible to change the consittutional structure of this country removing the ‘objective resolution’ from it!! because it is such an emotive issue… I am really on the passive side in terms of my outloook in this matter.
A. Khan
LisbonRecommend
@Fahad
Law and order is a provincial matter. But with people like nawaz and rana sanaullah what else can you expect. we need a tough general incharge. to hell with this joke called democracyRecommend
Tragic. And Shahbaz Sharif government vehemntly denies the presence of any extremist outfits in Punjab.Recommend
Where is so-called Lahore High Court C.J to take any sou-moto Action against police and paramilitary agencies plus his loving sectarian outfits.
This Punjab Government need to resign and go for new polls in all over the country.
We are still waiting for judiciary to take any malfunctioning action against them.Recommend
all the higher authorties were sleeping or celebrating or enjoying night when suddenly ‘aam admi’ was attacked by the terrorists. it was announced that the heads were found of the culprits but…..wats the use of these heads? do you think these heads or body limbs could answer your questions…? what a joke!! but people of pakistan still not go against these politicians because pakistani muslims are coward and brainless. they know who is behind but they still not raise their voices. they still not come to the roads, they still not shout slogans because they are afraid and mean… because they are corrupt, they are crule,they. they want to save them selves on the lives of other people. they want to save the life of their children on the blood of innocents of pakistan. but it is the time to realise our part of responsibility, wake up pakistan for god sake….comeout and dont be afriad.Recommend
where is elite force, shaheen force and mp police? yes they must be protecting nawaz sharif, shahbaz sharif, ppp and other vvips of this country because they deserve to live but not the nation of pakistan. are we realy muslims??? are we the one who say five times a prayer and we give sacrifces? and now we are killing our own fellow beings!!!!Recommend
I am waiting for the Punjab government to blame US drone attacks and Musharraf’s bad policies as the main reasons why terrorists attacked Data Darbar.Recommend
@Haroon, its already too late.Recommend
People responsible for this atrocity are
Foreign hand
Internal hand
Invisible hand
Visible hand
Jewish hand
Hindu hand
US hand
All hands except our own hand.Recommend
Only the elite of this country are safe. If they feel unsafe they leave the country. One really has to wonder why have all the targets of these bombings have been places where the poor get together? Why are they the only targets.Recommend
What you sow, so shall you reap. We have been sowing the seeds of hatred, intolerance and bigotry for the past 3 decades. Those seedlings have now matured and turned into solid trees full of venom, hatred, intolerance and violence. The apologists of N league, the religious do-nothing parties and taliban sympathisers are to blame for not seeing the inevitable even now. This will get worse before it gets better. Hold on to your seats..Recommend
It is not only a tragic incident taken away 42 human lives but also a warning bell for all of us that if we dont tie ourselves to be united Pakistani Muslims no matter what sect are you believing in, these terrorist will continuously be targetting us and achieving their evil ambitions, so order of the day is to be united as one nation, as one UMMAH and then we shall not only be able to cope up these terrorists but also defeat all our enemies in any form.No doubt it is great failure of Govt; but I think we should come out of this blam game that whether Punjab or Federal govt is to be blamed for negligency; let`s play our part and display such unanimousness than Rulers would bend to their knees. Come on Let`s doRecommend
very very sad event.No place is scoured in pakistan and every person is disappointed at this time.
ALLAH SAFE PAKISTANRecommend
@Fahad its our failure to provide good representatives to the society…if we had voted with conscious would these people got here?Recommend
It is totally inhuman and very sorrowful.Recommend
All I can say is attacking a Holy place like a Shrine is shameless. Only the lowest of the low people would resort to this. It’s time our government wake up from filling their pockets and fulfilling their personal needs and look at what is happening to Pakistan!!!Recommend
Another saddening news.When will we see the end of it!?Or should I say, is there an end to it?
Inna lillahe wainna ilaihe rajeoon.Recommend
Stop blaming governments and agencies we as a whole nation is intolerant to different religious views!Recommend
Some more similar attacks are required yet to wake up the nation for a bloody revolution. That is the way to resurrection…Recommend
:( :( :( out of words!Recommend
They are not against any sect or religion they have only kwon their own brand of Islam . They did not like our way of living that’s why they doing that . Believe me if they gain power in our city their target we common people even those people who are ideology near to them.
For example they will fire the launcher on person “ A “ ’s home because he has TV in his home , on person “ B “ ‘s home because his daughter going to school or collage or university , person “ C “ ‘s home because his wife going shopping with out “ Mharam “ , mosque “ X “ because they react duraat and salam , Mosque “ Y “ because people are not folding their paint on bottom in namaz and so on and so on ………..
Believe me we are not eligible to call Muslim as per their brand of Islam so either we convert our self as their wish or ready to die . Are our nation ready to counter them both ideology and military means , organ of state ready for that answer no . our politician , media , court and most important people are busy in wasted debit . can we believe that government is unable to give the punishment to single terrorist through as per lawRecommend
Now the people of pakistan have tasted democracy from the hands of their beloved leaders, aghast qauid’s pakistan is still a dream only because of the fool public who are still fighting over their liked politicions,shame for pakistanisRecommend
we all are responsible for this, how do we blaming someone i.e. taliban when there is no any report came yet.Recommend
Nihayat hi Afsoos Nak Waqiyah Hai.Recommend
Every revolution was first just a thought in one man’s mind.Recommend
What a great comment!!!!!!!!!!!!by Hasan. Superb.
People responsible for this atrocity are
Foreign hand
Internal hand
Invisible hand
Visible hand
Jewish hand
Hindu hand
US hand
All hands except our own hand.
Just want to add: to change mindsets is not easy when you have hundreds and thousands believe that all the world is against ISLAM and Pakistan.Recommend
Head of a family should keep an eye on all of his children as what their activities are?
Illiteracy and poverty are the two main reasons for a person to become a terrorist.
In villages, children leave home after telling to their parents that they are going for Tabligh, but in most of the cases they are picked up by terrorists groups, who not only brain wash the children but also train them how to conduct terrorist attacks.
It is not only be the duty of the government but it should be the duty of head of a family to know what their children are up to?Recommend
First the foreign companies/ franchises were required to beef up security, then the military, government institutions and officials, then came the imambarghs, mosques and schools, now shrines and CD shops…where is this pattern heading towards..yes people your homes and offices not as safe as you might think..soon you will see these degenerates targeting individuals of the civic society with intensity. Their aim is to rule by fear and hole us in our compounds…they are forcing us to give up our freedom and whatever space we have. What are we doing in response? only critisizing ‘them’ everytime a bomb blast occurs..what do we achieve? Nothing. How can I, you, and WE make a difference. We need to plan an effective and united response..we need a forum which can act as a platform to ACT NOW if we want our children not to wake up to another afghanistan. I request express and other news channels to encourage and promote such a movement. We need educated and patriotic leaders of this movement who can lead the masses against these traitors amongst us! The fabric of our society needs to be restored and I am 110% confident we can make this happen! its a DO or DIE situation..and we choose not to DIE that is for sure.. not in the hands of these savages.Recommend
I am not a supporter of “Taliban” of Pakistan but want to say that the Taliban are rigid by religion and they claims as a true Muslim. One thing is very clear during the taliban regime in Afghanistan there was ultimate peace, no theft, no raping, no massacre etc. people go for prayer leaving there shops open even jewelry shops. there was good justice and equal punishments. They hang peoples openly committed rape and murder like crimes. If there is proper punishments of a crime I think the crimes will definitely be reduced. In our country there is no justice and lack of punishments. Police always humiliate poors and gave respect to thieves, decoit, badmash etc. Police is totally a “FAILED” force he is not trained for this type of jobs but to get bribe, monthlies, crimes, thefting, snatching and other crimes. The real taliban can not do this only enemies can. I also very depressed over this blast on “Data Sahib”. *. So taliban can not do this and there spokesman also deny this blame and did not claim. Very clear this is done by agencies of the enemy countries and put the blame on taliban. Blast are due to failure of police and other agencies. please comments keeping in view the history of Taliban the real taliban. Every one trying to blame taliban taliban… there is no taliban but a self created policy of the govt and to put dust on every matter.Recommend
“Taliban” has come to mean “coward” to me.
Who else would continually use children to kill innocents?
My heart aches for the lives lost, their families, and the people of Pakistan who only want a peaceful home to raise their families.Recommend