Scene from the old Anarkali blast site. PHOTO: Shafiq Malik
DCO Naseem Sadiq confirmed that two of the injured are in critical condition. The injured were shifted to Mayo Hospital.
The Bomb Disposal Squad's (BDS) personnel said that a timed devide was used in the blast.
Old Anarkali and the food street are popular public spots and are frequented by people especially in the morning for breakfast, and on weekends. A number of key official buildings, including the IGP office, are located in the neighbourhood.
The blast occurred at around 11:45am. According to eye witnesses, an unknown person had left a bag in the area prior to the blast. The high-intensity explosion shattered windows and glass doors in many buildings in the area.
The area has been cordoned off by the police and the rescue teams have started relief work.
All roads leading to Old Anarkali Bazaar have been closed off. A search operation with the help of sniffer dogs is underway.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan and Dr Tahirul Qadri condemned the blast.
Strongly condemn the blast in Anarkali Lahore; prayers go to the victims and their families.
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) October 10, 2013
We condemn the blasts taking place across Pakistan on a daily basis, threatening the lives of the innocent. #OldAnarkali #Lahore
— Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri (@TahirulQadri) October 10, 2013
This is not the first time this exact location has been targeted.
On July 7, a powerful bomb tore through the Anarkali neighbourhood late Saturday night, killing three people and injuring 44 others. The bomb had been planted under the deep-freezer of Husnain Cold Corner, located in front of New Bokhara restaurant.
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C'mon lets be fair! 10,000, not 4,000!
@Aakashvaani: I want to see the day when Indians want to see that terrorist Modi arrested who is responsible for the killings of 4000 Muslims!
@Zaid Hamid: First of all improve your english, Slum-indian!
@suzo: Why not arrest modi and all those terrorist RSS, BJP leaders first?
@Aakashvaani: I don't know about their involvement in mumbai attack but it is an open secret that jamat e islami and lashkars and jashes of JuD morally and financially support taliban. . They ard their apologists. .some lashkars such as lashkar e jangvi are dierectly involved in secterian violence. We should first arrest and eliminate these traitors . Hope et will not censor it!
@ffffff: Dude, Taliban was produced by pakistan against India..but now this is the enemy of pakistan..
@Parvez: I don't anyone anywhere is coddling the criminals. The fact that you want to play politics with this incident of crime only means you are unwittingly encouraging them. They want to see instability and dissent in the country. Fortunately, these incidents are far and few between in Punjab and hopefully it will be the same throughout the country now that the TTP cowards are eager for talks because no one in the country supports their agenda of terrorizing civilians.
I pray for for victim and his/her family. May Allah(swt) give them strength. There is a bomb blast every day. The news always informs, X people are dead and Y people are injured, some critically. I think the death toll may be much higher than reported as many of the critically injured people probably perish in the hospitals, as quality of much of the hospitals are dismal. Lets all be ostriches and declare in unison with the PTIians : "the foreign hand/drones is responsible for the blast".
Taliban are crazy irrational fanatics... but them attacking random biryani hotels in a bazar does not make any sense. Could it be some braadri dispute or maybe extortion mafia extending its reach to Lahore now and creating fear amongst traders?
@PML N Wonderful. Do you think that IK is the defacto Chief of TTP. Strange logic.
@Parvez: On a side note, the political parties in Punjab at least don't maintain militant wings, kill the very residents of the provinces and don't allow armed militia to rule the land unopposed. Food for thought..
The terrorists continue to cross all lines in their bid to spread fear and chaos. Their long list of crimes leaves very little to ponder in regards to their dangerous objectives. The people of the region have suffered enough at the hands of these ruthless terrorists. We hope that the ones responsible for orchestrating these heinous crimes are brought to justice and punished to the fullest extent of the law. Our heartfelt condolences go out to the victims’ families. We sincerely hope that the victims’ families will find the strength to get through this difficult time. We also wish a quick and speedy recovery to those who have been injured. We fully support Pakistan in its war against the extremist organizations, and hope to see peace prevail throughout the region.
Ali Khan DET, United States Central Command
These Taliban are enemy of Pakistan who didn’t want to make Pakistan safe and save place, and they support the enemies of Pakistan like “ India and America “ ……
@PMLN this is the most absurd comment I have seen..you forgot to blame IK and PTI for dengue..khasaraaa...police torture...robberies...rapes...street crimes..Karachi violence..secretarian violance..and many other things happening in Pakistan and Punjab..from first day PTI is asking to negotiate so you should put the death count of 40 thousand Pakistanis for last 10 years also in PTI account...why you forgo that man..
Until and unless the Baluchistan problem is solved as per the wishes of the Baluchi people, there can be no peace in South Asia.
@suzo: I didn't think I would live to see the day when a Pakistani wants Hafiz Saeed arrested...damn, you real? He only runs a public service organisation Jamaat-ud-dawah, whats wrong with that?
We should all pray for more such peace efforts by the Nawaz, Imran and Taliban.
ISI role should be investigated
May ALLAH Almighty protect Pakistan from all troubles. Aameen! Law enforcement agencies should take proper measures to stop terror attacks like these.
@PMLN... Please wake up, punjab is ruled by PMLN not PTI.
Arrest hafiz saeed and munawar hassan. . They are affiliants of ttp in lahore. . Conduct a millitary operation against taliban!
Taliban appears to have been included Punjab in its wish list.
@ PMLN
Punjab comes under whom. I think PML(N) should resign :)
Nawaz's strategy of mollycoddling the extremists so that they would leave the Punjab alone.........was always flawed.
Allah o Akbar
Hmmm I see more Peace being spread here..
BBC is behind this........Yesterday they talk to taliban today blast............
Why people are bashing IK for this attack? Where is Punjab govt? PMLN won an uncontested majority in Punjab on grounds that their province is safer than the other three. Will it remain the same till the end of this govt is a question we need to seriously inquire.
let the taliban and imran khan and peace dialogue bashing begin!!
This has added to the previous precidents of intelligence faliure and shows the performance of the Police.
Why did the unattented bag was not reported to bomb disposal squad when some one saw that a man is leaving the bag behind?
There was a previous blast in Anarkali Bazar. After that did the government put CCTV to monitor the activities of people having dubious characters?
Our politicians and minister are very smart in giving timely press statements for the sake of their personal projection in the print and electronic media, but they don't care for the innocent people who die due to such inhuman incidents.
@ET Lahore Hotel is at another place. It is Anarkali. Please correct the title.
PTI must resign from all national n provincial assemblies.....its all coz IK cant control terrorism.....n this blast is all coz of IK's peace talks.......
We still need to TALK to these monsters