Lahore wears deserted look a day after serial blasts

LAHORE - A day after three back-to-back blasts by militant outfit Lashkar-i-Islami in a Shia congregation in Lahore killed at least 35 people and wounded over 200, the city in Pakistan’s Punjab province wore a deserted look Thursday while traders have declared a three-day mourning.

A mass funeral of the dead would be held at 2 p.m. Thursday, officials said.

Almost all parts of the city and particularly the area near Lower Mall wore a deserted look. The Traders Alliance and the Shia Action Committee have announced a three-day mourning.

Tight security arrangements have been made for the mass funeral, as authorities fear the situation may turn violent any time. Rangers have been deputed to control the situation following scuffles with the mob who beat up police and also torched a nearby police station after the incident.

Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has announced Rs.0.5 million compensation for the families of each of the victims, while Rs.75,000 rupees would be given to each of the injured.

“An inquiry has also been ordered to check whether it was a security lapse,” he said.

Representative organisations of the Shia community have warned the government to ensure the arrest of culprits within a month or face consequences.

“We don’t want to take the situation in our hands but this government has badly failed to control terrorism,” Molana Abbas Kumeli, chief of the Shia Action Committee, said.

Lahore Capital City Police officer (CCPO) Aslam Tareen, however, refused to accept that the blasts occured due to a security breach.

“The terrorists hit the tail of the procession when it was coming to a close”, he said.

“In fact, the first blast occurred when a police official intercepted the suicide attacker trying to break the security cordon,” he stated. The said police official was also killed as the suicide attacker blew himself up.

Police have collected evidence from the blast site and the severed heads of all the attackers have been found. Two separate FIRs have been registered and investigation is underway.

(Awais Saleem can be contacted at ians.pakistan@gmail.com)