Lahore blasts kill 57

PAKISTAN: Two suicide bombers blew themselves up in an Islamic shrine packed with worshippers in Pakistan’s cultural capital Lahore Thursday, killing at least 37 people and wounding scores more.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but Pakistan has been hit by a wave of attacks carried out by the Taliban and other Al-Qaeda-linked Islamist extremists that have killed more than 3,400 people in the last three years.

“At least 37 people were killed and 175 injured” in the attack, which targeted a complex housing the tomb of an Islamic saint, Lahore city police chief Aslam Tareen told AFP.

Another senior city police official, Chaudhry Shafiq confirmed two suicide attacks and said one bomber blew himself up in the complex’s courtyard while the second detonated his explosive vest in the basement of the shrine.

Lahore has increasingly suffered Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked violence, with around 265 people killed in nine attacks since March last year.

The city is considered a playground for Pakistan’s elite and home to many top brass in the military and intelligence community.

Live television pictures from the scene of the carnage showed people crying and beating their chests and heads.

Bystanders helped ambulance crews load the wounded into vehicles before they were rushed to hospital.

“The first blast occurred in the basement followed by another one with a deafening sound,” an eye witness said.

People were seen hugging each other as police cordoned off the area to prevent any further attack.

Thousands of people were at the shrine dedicated to Sufi saint Hazrat Syed Ali bin Usman Hajweri, popularly known as Data Ganj Bakhsh, at the time of the attacks Thursday night. LAHORE, Friday, AFP